When
Silliness Is Serious
Commentary by the Rt. Rev. Council Nedd II
No doubt millions of Americans have read or heard about Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers’ lawsuit against
God. Most just snickered or shook their heads in disgust at yet another loopy politician trying to make
headlines.
Similarly, I’m sure most Americans just rolled their eyes when a group of high-school students in Colorado recently
walked out of class to protest having to listen to the Pledge of Allegiance. The group of a dozen or so
students held a press conference and declared that merely hearing the words “under God” offended them.
To most Americans the actions of Senator Chambers and the Boulder High Students are just silly publicity stunts by
attention-craving complainers. Offensive, yes. Urgent issues of national importance?
No.
However, there is a point when even the silliest of stunts becomes serious. By launching
his admittedly frivolous lawsuit, State Senator Chambers made the state of Nebraska and its government look foolish.
He insulted the vast majority of his constituents, abused the legal system and even made a mockery of the Nebraska
state constitution which states, “It shall be the duty of the Legislature to pass suitable
laws to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship.”
Yet, the Nebraska legislature did nothing to punish
or even deter Senator Chambers from such antics in the future. In Nebraska, it’s apparently now acceptable
for elected officials to use the legal system to mock God.
In Colorado, as the members of the Student Worker's Club were marching out of class and into the arms of the gaggle
of reporters gathered in front of the school, the principal just looked on. He later announced that the
students would not be disciplined and that he was actually “proud” they stood up for their beliefs.
He was proud his students disrupted classes in
order to declare that hearing the word “God” was so traumatic to them they could no longer even sit silently while
their peers recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Proud of what, exactly? Their judgment?
Their maturity? Their patriotism? Don’t make me laugh.
I’ve taught in public schools and realize
that kids will do some outrageous things. Sometimes they simply have to “get it out of their systems.”
However, the refusal of Boulder High’s principal to stand up to these students simply encourages more outrageous
and disrespectful behavior toward our national heritage. If the kids don’t like the pledge, Colorado
law says they don’t have to recite it. However, they shouldn’t be allowed to insult and demean
their teachers and fellow students who do wish to pay their respects to our nation.
I’m afraid America is rapidly reaching a tipping point, where our forbearance of attacks on our national religious
heritage is emboldening those who wish to drive God from our public lives to such an extent that it is undermining the very
purpose of our nation. Tolerance is one thing. Slow retreat and surrender to the divisive
forces of political correctness and atheist demagoguery is another.
Kids used to have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school. Now, not only can they opt out of
reciting it, they can mock and deride their classmates who do. Similarly, in the past politicians whose
actions demeaned their offices, abused the legal system and insulted their constituents would at least get reprimanded if
not expelled from office. Today, they might end up on Oprah.
Each stunt we allow to go unchallenged merely emboldens the radical left to demand more and more concessions from America’s
religious majority.
No
more retreating. It is time for the silliness to stop.
