Dueling Opinions

Colorado State Senator Dave Schultheis (Rep., Colo. Springs) is pushing forward state legislation to allow individuals the option to express religion in Colorado school districts. This proposed "Public School Religious Bill of Rights" would (in theory) be split into two bills, one to accommodate parents and students, and the other for teachers and school employees.

Students would have the right to exchange religion-themed greeting cards, refer to their religious beliefs in classroom assignments if desired, and sing songs with religious messages around, say, Christmas. On the other hand, the bill proposes that teachers would have the right to mention or refuse to mention religious rhetoric in their classroom discussions.

Now, for the record, I don't think this bill stands a chance of making it into law as most liberal officials will cite a conflict with "The Establishment Clause" under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. However, the mere fact that some in power still hold enough gumption to stand up for the very Judeo-Christian values on which our nation was founded is a refreshing fact, and speaks volumes about those who continue to hold true to the traditions that our Founding Fathers left for us to build upon.

To the loony anti-religious few I can just sense cringing at the end of that last sentence, yes, some of our Founding Fathers such as Samuel Adams and Alexander Hamilton were clearly Christians, according to historical documents handwritten by them (April, 1802 letter to James Bayard, 1772- The Rights of the Colonists).

The truth is that the constraints of political correctness have stretched so far in the time we live in, that most people with public influence are too timid to take a forthright stance on promoting any issue of involving religion. It's just too easy to be labeled a "religious zealot", "racist", or "Nazi" for that matter; oh and by the way, the mere mention of every one of those labels instantly kills the credibility of the one issuing the label. (Don't believe me? Just Google "The Institute for Propaganda Analysis," which was established in 1937 by Kirtley Mather and Edward A. Filene).

Senator Schultheis's proposed bill may or may not hold much weight when it comes time for the votes, but I applaud him for appropriating his bestowed power by the people and for the people by reminding everyone from where we stem as a nation.