Free religion

Once again, we debate whether government imposes religion by allowing religious symbols on public property.

A Ten Commandments monument stands in La Crosse's Cameron Park, donated in 1965 by the Eagles Club. Last year, after objections arose, La Crosse returned the monument, and the land it's on, to the Eagles. (Much the same happened with a Jesus statue in Marshfield in 1998.)

This was unacceptable to the Freedom from Religion Foundation which, along with 22 defendants, sued La Crosse. On July 14, U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabbe ordered the monument removed. A month later, La Crosse voted to appeal.

The Catholic Times, the La Crosse diocesan paper, quotes several plaintiffs (Aug. 7) saying that the monument, near a farmers market, has caused sleepless nights and imposes contrary beliefs upon them.

Our Constitution's First Amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Nowhere does it say we must be protected from expressions of religion. Yet many believe it orders "a wall of separation between church and state."

This quote is not from the Constitution, but Thomas Jefferson. It is in a letter (Jan. 1, 1802) written to the Danbury (Conn.) Baptist Association, which had congratulated Jefferson on his presidential election. During the campaign, Jefferson had been accused of atheism.

In the letter, Jefferson clarified his refusal to declare a national day of fast or thanksgiving, an act that had revived the atheism charges, especially since George Washington and John Adams had declared such days of devotion. In his letter's first draft, Jefferson wrote: "I have refrained from prescribing even those occasional performances of devotion, practiced indeed by the Executive of another nation as the legal head of its church."

Jefferson was referring to George of England, not only king, but head of the Church of England: church and state combined in one man. Jefferson was assuring the Baptists that he would avoid even an appearance of this in his presidency.

Jefferson feared a government controlled by one religion - much as we see in some Muslim nations today: Nigeria, which has condemned a woman to death for adultery, and Pakistan, where a Christian can be executed for speaking against the Koran.

But while Jefferson feared government control of religion, did he fear all religion or religious expression linked with government? Unlikely. The Declaration of Independence, which he authored, mentions God four times. And Jefferson, like presidents before and since, attended prayers by Congressional chaplains. He even attended church services held in the Capitol.

What Jefferson really feared was anyone imposing beliefs about God on someone else. And, logically, he would have opposed forcing non-belief upon anyone.

Because, while Jefferson opposed the domination of any one religion, he viewed religious belief as a moral influence. Carved on the Jefferson Memorial is his quote: "And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?"

While our Founding Fathers like Jefferson would not have wanted Pope John Paul elected president, neither would they have banned all his quotes - or Martin Luther King Jr.'s or the Dalai Llama's - from the halls of government - or symbols of religion, whether Christian, Jewish (the Ten Commandments are Jewish in origin) or Muslim, removed from the public eye.

Why? Because these things remind us of - and inspire us to - things greater than ourselves, things greater than the fears that cause sleepless nights. Yet, in ruling that religious symbols can be never seen on public property or spoken of in public schools, our courts forget that.

We should not forget that Jefferson, while wary of institutionalized religion, still sought, at his second inaugural, the guidance of "that Almighty Being ... to whom we are bound to address our devout gratitude for the past, as well as our fervent supplications and best hopes for the future."