Recently, Supreme Court Justice Scalia made a speech on an issue that could not possibly be more important to Americans today: the separation of Church and State. Now, please do try to control your enthusiasm, I know that the separation of Church and State gets college students more riled up than beer at a football game, but I am trying to make this a civil opinion column. And don’t just stop reading either (if you even got to this point), Scalia’s speech is important, and here’s why.
Imagine, if you will, a country governed by ultra-conservative Christians who believe that America has lost its way and must return to its true Christian values. Now imagine that government existing at a time when the diversity of the American population was ever increasing, and when so many different religious persuasions were represented that no single one of them could be called the dominant religion. Do you see where I’m going with this?
Well, maybe I had better be a little clearer. That ultra-conservative government is the one that currently exists, and that diverse American population is made up of all of us. Now do you see why we should all be very, very afraid?
Justice Scalia is just one member of the Supreme Court (I like to call them the All-Star team of extreme conservatives, and I imagine their motto being: “It isn’t necessary to have voted against Civil Rights at some point in your career to get in, but it sure helps”) however, his views draw a frightening picture of the direction our government is leaning.
For example, Justice Scalia devoted a substantial amount of time in his speech to addressing the recent controversy with removing the words “under God” from the pledge of allegiance. After all, those words are as American as George Washington, right? They have always been a part of our country, right? Wrong.
The words “under God” were added by President Eisenhower in the Fifties in a shrewdly political move to make America look moral and God-fearing in comparison to the godless Communists. They have nothing to do with religion and everything to do with propaganda, and quite frankly, if God exists, I don’t imagine it enjoys being used as a means to such low ends. I’m sorry Justice Scalia, you obviously have no business being in the Supreme Court.
And that is just a petty issue. Imagine what Justice Scalia and his partners in crime (and I do mean crime) are going to say when the Supreme Court reviews the abortion laws? So be afraid America.
Travis Atria is a senior majoring in English Literature. He can be reached at man7777@aol.com.