Tear down the U.S. supreme court building?(From the Publisher)

Every so often, writers fall back on a favorite old chestnut: the separation of Church and State. March is one of those times for us. Just call it March Madness, if you like.

Recently some interesting points on the topic have come our way that we think you will enjoy thinking about, and so we share them with you here.

The subject is not altogether without gravity, given the contemporary concern over ethics, from politics to pulpits and beyond-right into outer space!

How could we as a country and as a People have gotten so estranged from our founding and basic principles? We're in just a bit of a mess, frankly: parents killing kids, kids killing kids, preachers and priests gone amuck. And that's only at the local level.

IMPEACH PRESIDENT JAMES MADISON?

The fourth president of the United States and credited with being the father of the Constitution is remembered as having said:

"We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

The Ten Commandments? Great Scott! They nearly cover the U.S. Supreme Court Building portico in Washington, D.C. If one looks up upon entering the building, to be seen overhead in life-size marble statues, are the famed lawgivers of the world. Each look toward a man in the center who is facing full forward: Moses, by name, holding the tablets upon which are written-what? The Ten Commandments, that's what.

And as one enters the historic courtroom where the Justices sit, you pass through two massive oak doors upon which are engraved-what? The Ten Commandments. And immediately above the heads of the Justices is yet another display of The Ten Commandments. By-and-by, a befrocked clergyman comes to open each session with a prayer to God, as he has done ever since 1777, at the Court and in Congress. He is paid with taxpayer money.

HANG PATRICK HENRY?

A Founding Father of this country and the great patriot who said, "Give me liberty or give me death" also said:

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians; not religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

BURN JEFFERSON AT THE STAKE?

Thomas Jefferson, who preceded President James Madison, and became the third president of the United States, drafted the Declaration of Independence, and purchased the Louisiana Territory, worried that the courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpreting the law, begin making law. In spite of his concerns over the Supreme Court, the Court's first Justice, John Jay, remarked: "Americans should select and prefer Christians as their rulers."

An astute person may wonder just how, after 2 1/4 centuries, can it be that much of what we have done in this country is either unconstitutional or politically incorrect? It has been observed that 86 percent of Americans believe in God. Therefore it is difficult to understand why there is such a dust-up about having the Ten Commandments on display, or "In God We Trust" on our money, or having God in the Pledge of Allegiance.

After all, the other 14 percent are just that-14 percenters. They also have their own rights to enjoy what the majority enjoys, but not to overstep the other 86 percent.

Venn C. McCorkle, Publisher

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