CHURCH AND STATE IN WHOSE MIND

"Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Article VI specifies that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
     This is the separation of church and state and no where does it state that if one is religious, or has religious beliefs, or spends part of one's time in a building devoted mainly to religion, NOWHERE does it state that this person cannot hold any political beliefs nor exercise them in the area of politics.
     In fact, our very Founding Fathers, from the first Pilgrims and Puritans to Roger Williams, to Lord Baltimore, to George Oglethorpe to William Penn - all had ideas of religion and its place and limitations in their colonies. In fact, their very views influenced their respective states for hundreds of years, both within and without politics. Our politicians today end their speeches with G-d Bless America as I am sure Obama will do tonite.
     We have chaplains in the armed forces and chaplains for Congress. We have had rabbis and priests, reverends and nuns, pastors and cantors all walking arm in arm on Civil Rights marches, speaking from the pulpit re slavery and abolition, re wars and policies and NO ONE ever told them they were disallowed because they had a "taint" of religion on them. Yes, there are those who abused religion, were hateful fanatics, but there are always those and democracy allows them free speech so we must combat it otherwise, with wise and sane behavior, with good examples and with the proper interpretation of the Constitution and the traditions of our country. It is not for us to twist these rules and traditions in ways that would benefit us, particularly as we are running scared in an election or some other area or event or action.
     The issue closest at hand for us today is the blatant misuse of church and state in this UCO election. Due to a frightened incumbent, though the odds in the system used here are stacked for him, due to his running scared at the thought of a loss and a resultant loss of his power and its abuse, David Israel has taken two abominable steps. One, he has resorted to the snitch, the one who turns on his fellow citizens even as they do no wrong, just for the opportunity to gain an advantage point such as shutting down their complete and total access to publicity, within and without the Village and then, though done sneakily the first time, and then exposed, now boasts of doing it a second time. Such are the twisted minds of those who abuse our Constitution. Two, he continues to repress the freedoms granted to us in the Constitution be it of expression or assembly or even opposition.
     In  order to do that, he has raised the issue of Church and  State, totally ignoring the role of religion in all elections, like it or not. The religion of the candidate and level of observance, the support of various religious groups for one candidate or another, their interests, and the traditional history of their support of fair play here within the USA. As such, the synagogue across the street - OUTSIDE THE BOUNDS OF THE VILLAGE - had every right to allow an opposition candidate to post a banner on their fence, particularly as they knew that the reason for that was the lack of opportunity to distribute any campaign material inside the Village due to the nefarious and illegal, uncivil actions of David Israel and the complicity of WPRF in allowing this to happen, though perhaps lately there is some repentance there, at least a tad.
     No, David Israel, perhaps you are not really the Great Wizard with all his smoke and promises, all leading to naught, but instead are the Scarecrow, looking for his brain, along with a touch of the Tin Man who is looking for his heart. Shame on you, shame on your behavior in every aspect one can think of and shame on you for turning to the last desperate act of a tyrant - using the Constitution in a twisted manner in order to continue your ruinous and overly long and improperly extended term in office. Others, fascists and dictators have done this before you. Dostoevski tells us that "for a moment the lie becomes the truth" but believe me, the lie is always revealed and then woe upon the head of the liar. And as for you thinking that YOU are qualified to make religious judgements, here is advice from Thomas More. "I have never read....that a secular prince can or ought to be the head of things spiritual." So please, David, cut the crap and admit what you are - a sneaky little dude, floundering way over his head as crisis after crisis now befalls us and desperately clinging to any little piece of floating refuse out there that might keep you afloat for a bit more, but the time is coming.......and then it will be TRIPLE OY ON YOU.