Christians who insist that the First Amendment
Free Exercise Clause gives them the right to use our government as a means to
grant favor, support and sponsorship tor their religion are the first to stifle
non-Christians from doing exactly the same.
Consider the two faces of the Free Exercise
Clause in Phoenix Arizona. Members of the Phoenix City Council, claiming the
right to free exercise of religion, have been routinely opening government
meetings with Christian prayers for many years. The current rules allow for
anyone who wants to deliver a prayer to simply make a request.
Enter the Satanist Temple of Phoenix claiming
the same right to deliver an invocation at the next meeting and threatening a
lawsuit: “if its member’s liberties are trampled.”
You guessed it. Now the Christian lawmakers
are scrambling to change the
rules. The Christians are going to make
it impossible for the Satanists to do what the Christians have been doing in
the name of free exercise of religion for years. The new rules will only allow people invited
by the elected officials to deliver the prayers at government meetings. And, of
course, only Christians will be invited.
“We weren’t comfortable lending either our
reputations — or the constituency that voted for us, we didn’t want them to
think that we were [allowing] a Satanic prayer at a City Council meeting,” Councilman Jim Waring declared.
When it finally dawned on the Christians that
they probably couldn’t get away with their new rules in court, they voted instead to end their
longstanding tradition of Christian prayers before meetings, replacing them
with a moment of silence. Thus, the Free Exercise Clause collided head on with
the Establishment Clause in Phoenix, and both the Christians and the Satanists
are going to have to go pound sand.
The decision led to outrage from some people
in the room. One pastor began to cry as she tried to push for more Christian
prayers. “I am not for the silent prayer,” said Pastor Darlene Vazquez.
“I want those who believe in one true God to pray. It breaks my heart to hear
what is going on.”
Some Christians will just never learn the
reason why the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause can’t have two faces in
Phoenix.
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