Does the US gov't have the authority to remove religious references in schools and gov't buildings?

Question

I believe this country was founded on biblical principles and it is very distressing to me to see how the morals of our society have been eroding. I would love to see more children and teens grasp the spirit of our lord and take back their generation...

Answer 1

So you are against the United States Constitution? Sad.

This country was NOT founded on biblical principles. If they were, we would still be hanging people for being "witches".

The Bible's God, ruler of the universe, runs counter to the American Constitution. He does not support democracy (He rules;Psalms 2,89,110: the King is Yahweh's son), freedom of religion (no other gods allowed) or freedom of speech (no blasphemy).

Answer 2

Well, a lot of people ask the reverse question -- does the government have the authority to put them there in the first place?

In principle, the government does not have the authority to affect anything "privately" religious, like crucifixes or yarmuckles or whatever, but it does (generally by the means of the Supreme Court as a means of enforcing the first amendment) have the ability to remove anything explicitly religious in the "public sphere", such as the ten commandments from the walls of gov't buildings and public schools. (Private and religious schools are obviously exceptions.)

You're right that a lot of this country's principles derive from the Bible, but consider this: is that really sufficient reason to send the message "This is a Christian government, Hindus, Jews and Buddhists need not apply"? Really, why not go all the way and demand a theocracy? It'll presumably fix up our culture's eroding morals, no? The answer is, of course, because no religion or belief system (Christianity, Mithraism, atheism) should receive favor no matter how closely tied it is to American history -- you might as well say that we should put a special emphasis on the importance of white people, because this country was founded by whites.

You could try subtler approaches to evangalizing -- forcing Scripture on every child regardless of relgious is likely to cause more resentment than anything else... but your effort to help this nation get on a more ethical track is still greatly appreciated. :)

Answer 3

What "biblical principle?" Signing "all men are created equal" with your slave standing in the room? No. This country was founded on "freedom of religion" and things like that, remember those? And not just YOUR freedom of religion, either. Everyone's. And everyone's freedom of religion states that we don't want to see your religious articles in places where everyone can be.

Yes, they have the authority, and they should.

Answer 4

you're speaking about graves. it really is merely manners to allow a useless man or woman his/her non secular image. the unhappy fact for individuals like you is that there is separation of church and state implied in the structure and in the writings of the founding fathers you so idolize. notwithstanding the Gov is sweet to allow it really is useless their own non secular symbols on their graves. it is not any longer endorsing a faith. keep searching on the images of those gravestones, you'll come for the time of many non Christian ones. Even Satanic ones.

Answer 5

Apparently they do have the authority to do so... Maybe if schools would teach about God and what he expects from us we wouldn't have shootings in schools, killings and other hate crimes by children and teenagers. It's kind of sad if you ask me.

But then again, our country gives us the freedom of religion which means all religions have to be respected and how can you do that and teach a certain religion in a public school.

Hopefully, someone can think of a middle point. For the sake of all our children.

Answer 6

I would assume that if the government owns the buildings they can remove any religious references they want. I also believe that communities have a measure of influence over their governments. If the overwhelming majority have no problem with specific religious references in a building, then the government has no impetus to take action and remove them.

Answer 7

You don't need to be distressed. You still have your place to worship and our government is protecting that quite sufficiently. On the other hand, if we are forced to educate our children with things that we do not believe in and our government do not protect our rights, we would be distressed too. So the win-win solution is to keep religion out of our government and our schools.

Answer 8

It's a violation of the Separation of Church and State, except that where this argument comes up most often with Church being the bad guy. Clearly though and more so in the future it will be seen that the State is the violator of the separation

Answer 9

It's a secular nation whether you like it or not. Face reality. More of our youth every day are walking away from old belief systems and we'll finally get all references to mythical beings of the past out of any government dealings.

Answer 10

That authority is called the US Constitution - which in no way mentions God or Christianity.

Parents have sole authority in which (if any) religion they teach to their children.