God in the Box

There is an unspoken mindset that goes along with the relatively new (historically speaking) surge of political correctness that has been seen in the last 20 years. The thinking goes this way: “You are not allowed to impose God on me as this goes against the constitutional separation of church and state. My right to not be reminded of God supersedes the right of the community to express Christianity and Judaism publicly,” (as has been done in this country for the last 200+ years).

I am talking about organizations, such as the ACLU, whose stated goal is to insure individual rights, but whose actual goal is to remove any public mention of religion, such as removing the ten commandments from court buildings, silencing prayer for the protection of athletes before high school football games, and attempting to remove the words “under God” from the pledge of allegiance.

In some schools (particularly in the northeastern United States), displays of the Islamic religion are openly accepted in the name of diversity and tolerance. If one attempts to put Christmas displays up however, they are vetoed with the argument, “we don’t want to offend anyone.” Whom exactly do they think they are offending in such actions? The unspoken line is, it is acceptable to offend Christians but not anyone else, as Christianity is offensive to atheists. Why is this?

When God is removed from our world view, we are no longer held accountable for our actions. As long as God stays in His “little box” and does not interfere in my life, that is acceptable. That’s basically what it boils down to. Philosophical arrogance. God must stay in His box so that I am not offended, so that I am not reminded that I am in fact accountable for my life. So that my life, my island, remains tinted by the rose colored glasses of acceptability to myself. It remains devoid of any spiritual aspect of life, which is a natural part of the disposition of man.

Let’s take the ACLU route to its logical conclusion. There would be no chaplains for any faiths in the military; that program is supported by government funds. All churches, synagogues and mosques would lose their tax exempt status. No public expression of faith whatsoever. No Christmas lights on houses, no Christmas holidays, no mention of God on our currency. All religious broadcasts, radio and otherwise, would be shut down. They might offend someone. The president would not be allowed to swear himself into office on the bible (or any “holy book” now that we have our first Islamic congressman). Does this oath not lose some of its importance if not symbolically taken before God? No crosses on steeples, no street ministries, no mention of any person of religious faith on the news, such as Billy Graham.

It sounds to me like a nightmarish twist of Dickens “A Christmas Carol,” and the old Soviet Union, with atheism repressing any form of religion other than worship of the state. We fought a cold war over this very thing. Now though, we have become our own enemies.

Here is the deal. We are the ones who are inside the box. The box is our world, our brief existence here. Our views are tainted by what we can see, what our senses perceive, the experiences that we have had in our lives. We cannot accurately observe the spiritual world that is around us, present but indiscernible, existing but imperceptible, except for brief glimpses that nearly all can attest to. Nonetheless, God is present in our lives; watching... waiting... with love that is beyond our comprehension. Now, we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face. I am so very thankful that I am not an island.

Thanks to brutallyhonest.org for the image.