First Amendment

There has been an uprising here in the United States. One student of religion threatens to kill a Taxi driver in New York because the Sikh wore a turban. Outrage has been heard the world over because a Mosque is being planned in the shadow of the Twin Towers. A Pastor in Florida is planning on holding a Koran burning on September 11th, only two days from now.


I've never been a fan of organized religion. I find churches of all denominations to be full of hypocrites. This Florida pastor only seems to reinforce that idea in my mind.

However - this nation was founded on the idea of "Freedom of Religion" and is listed as the first amendment right in the United States constitution. So while I may not agree with organized religions, what they stand for or who is the leader of each group, I will defend to the DEATH anyone else's right to practice their own religion and family backgrounds until my last breath.

"In the summer of 1787, fifty-five delegates gathered in Philadelphia to draft the original Constitution of the United States. The original Constitution itself has only one provision that addresses religion and that is a provision that draws a sharp boundary ...In the summer of 1787, fifty-five delegates gathered in Philadelphia to draft the original Constitution of the United States. The original Constitution itself has only one provision that addresses religion and that is a provision that draws a sharp boundary between church and state,"


NOT Church and Church, not religion and religion, not Book of Mormon and the Koran, not ground zero and Muslim faith - but CHURCH AND STATE. What our forefathers meant by this was just this:

"In Article VI, Clause 3, the Founders prohibited all religious tests for public office. (“no religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public trust"...) and didn't even involve our schools, as we have been forced to do so in the past decade.

When we begin to loose the ideals and beliefs that this country was founded on, what more could be left of us to destroy? Have we lost our roots? Have the bricks to our foundation crumbled away into non-existence? Have our hearts burst into flames? Were our spirits crushed under the Twin Towers of New York City?


The great nation of these United States was founded by people who openly, and at great cost to themselves and their families, rejected the divine right of a King to rule them in favor of a Republic, free of any particular spiritual expression.

"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. "


Do we forget that, in the first amendment within the Constitution that this nation was founded on, the freedom of religion was mentioned first? This is hardly an afterthought when displayed so prominently.

President Obama is quoted as having said just recently when asked about the Florida Pastor that "part of this country's history is people doing destructive or offensive or harmful things. And yet, we still have to make sure that we're following the laws.” (Mark my words, this will likely be the only thing I will ever quote from this man.) He's right.

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor that marked our entry in World War II, we went over and bombed Hell out of Japan. They're still reeling from the effects some 70 years later. During our seasons of war, though - we placed the Japanese Americans in our own concentration camps hidden all over, right here in the grand old United States. A dear friend of mine was born in one located in Colorado.

When the Germans decided Jewish people were bad, well, we all know what happened to them. It was a massive genocide, killing more than 6 million people based on their religion.

The Mormon's have been chased from Nation to Nation and State to State before they finally found their home in Utah. Religious persecution even here in the United States of America AFTER the constitution was written and the amendments on religion were added forced them to move again and again, never wanted, never needed, always searching for a home. When finally they settled in Salt Lake City, it wasn't their first choice. It was more like their 500th choice, and they chose it mainly because it was empty - nobody was around to chase them away.

There are so many examples of what Religious persecution in other parts of the world has done, like the many African nations where people are killed daily because they won't conform to the new leaders religion. Like Israel and Palestine. Like the Crusades that lasted 200 years.

We should be PROUD of where we come from and what our nation was founded on. We weren't always the closed minded shallow hate filled fanatics we seem to be now. While I agree that we should protect our people and our nation, I strongly disagree in the action some have taken against others Nation wide based on their skin color, religions or clothing preference.

We come from a proud breed of people, all of us. No matter what our background is, no matter where our ancestors are, each nation out there has a proud and strong people. We have much to be proud of and much to be thankful for. We shouldn't hate others because we fear them, or because they're different (though in too many cases we hate them because we fear them), but embrace the differences, learn from others, and hold fast to our own rich heritage.

THIS is where I come from. THIS is my heritage. THIS is my background. What about yours? Do you know where you stand? Do you know where you come from? Take a stand, be proud, show your true colors. DARE to do what's right.

They did.

" We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America."

God Bless our Free Nation.

My Religion

Mom started dating my father after a blind date (where she was 5th pick, the others bailed out,) and she was only 15 at the time. My father was a 20 year old Military guy. She'd always lived in the country woods, so this New Yorker was just different. There was an instant attraction. It just so happened that they were both the same religion; Methodist. Mom's parents hated the thought of their little girl getting married at 17, but knew that if they made her wait the 3 months before turning 18 to get married, they would not be invited to the wedding, so they conceded defeat. Mom and Dad were married in a Methodist church on June 7th, 1975.

It wasn't long after that my mom discovered she was pregnant. My brother was born on July 25, 1976. My parents never had a Honeymoon (btw - neither have I). Instead, my dad left the Air Force and moved her, while still pregnant, to upstate New York where he got a job in a grocery store and they lived with my Dad's Step-Dad, my Grandpa Frank. That's the way I understand the story, anyway.

They went to church with grandpa Frank all the time. He was the kind that would swear like a sailor and then repent on a Sunday. Eventually I think my mother got tired of it and decided that the church had too many hypocrites in it. That's when they stopped going.

Sometime after that, Dad joined back up with the Air Force. In the summer of 1979, Mom was pregnant with me and Dad got stationed in Germany. Mom said that the last thing she wanted was for her last child to be born somewhere other than the states. She wanted an all American baby. (LOL! And here I'm so proud of my Irish heritage...) So, Mom moved back to Arkansas with my brother to be with her mom to have me. I guess she was about 8 months along when she decided she couldn't take it anymore and moved to Germany to be with my Dad. Then I came along in December that year, 2 weeks to the day before Christmas.

Got a little off track there ... sorry.

Anyway, My brother and I knew basically nothing of the church for many years because my mother didn't want us getting "Confused". The only kind of church they had on the military bases were non-denominational churches. Mom and Dad thought that it would only add to the confusion if we went to these churches that Mom thought was full of only more hypocrites. She's got many strange beliefs, most of which I do not agree with in the slightest.

My brother and I used to sneak out of the house early on a Sunday morning and ride our bikes the 3 miles to get to the church for the service. There was rarely a service we missed. Mom and Dad just always thought we were out playing, or sleeping in. They never really knew.

Finally, once we moved to Utah and my brother moved away, there were no churches close by but the LDS church, and my mom would not have stood for me to go to an LDS church. It's the rebel in her, I guess. She doesn't ever want to "follow the pack" if you know what I mean. No offense to the Mormon religion, but Mom didn't want any of us to be what everyone else was. Besides, she was raised Methodist and firmly believed in the religion - just not the hypocrites.

I finally found a Methodist Church on Laker Way in Washington Terrace and somehow I talked them into going to church with me. We had a grand time, actually. Mom and Dad dressed up to go with me, and for the first time in years, my grades started to do better in school. I felt like I had their support finally. Then it came. The letter.

I started my first job at the Wendy's in Roy in the summer of 1996. I think it was Andrew Libby who actually asked me on a date while I was working there. He took me to play Mini Golf - the first time I had ever played. And the last. We had a blast. When school started back up again, he didn't know who I was.

Anyway - getting off the point again.

I wasn't making much money at Wendy's, and it was saving what I could for school clothes and supplies for when school started back up. One day I went to the mail box to get the mail and found something for me in it from the Methodist Church.
The letter said roughly that they appreciated my donations every week. They understood that I now had a new job. They outlined for me how much I made, how much was taken out for taxes and various purposes, and then told me how much I SHOULD be donating every week.

I never went back.

I tried a church here and there for a while and even became friends with a pastor once who was quite good. He expected nothing from me but kindness... but still my heart wasn't in it. It was too late and I was jaded at that point. It's been years now since I've set foot in a church. I imagine it will be yet a few more before I'm even tempted, if ever.