The Iron Wall

2356 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Political decisions influenced by religion

The Iron Wall

When reading the famous American magazine Time, you see a picture of President Bush with his cabinet praying. This is not a special occasion, but rather a daily prayer that begins his administration workday. It is not uncommon to see religious demonstrations and creeds throughout our society. Our money has “In God we Trust” and our schools daily pledge states, “…One nation under God…” We take oaths under the Bible and are sworn in with it. It would be foolish to believe that our founding fathers did not have a spiritual side to them. It would be even more naïve to believe that our sense of being does not come out in our writing; therefore, our nation was delivered on religious foundations and it remains today in all of the different political factions. Although the belief is that our founding fathers when creating the constitution were not trying to create a nation that was completely separate from religious beliefs. They did not want to mix church and state due to fears of a government that would not function as designed. They came from lands in which they were persecuted and religious leaders possessed too much authority in political affairs and they created threats to civil liberties. “Persecution is not an original feature in any religion, but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law.” (Thomas Paine) It is lucid to see the fears of an established state religion, but does freedom to excercise it and establishing it often mixed today? The First Amendment has always guaranteed our civil liberties, but the judicial branch is believed to have guided their interpretation too narrow and strict in fear of losing their iron wall. Society today, portrayed from the court...

... middle of paper ...

...e free speech rights of students involved in Christian groups. It found that the school had violated those rights when it refused to pay for the printing of the Christian’s group’s newspaper; even though, it paid for the publications of a wide range of other student organizations. The fight for our rights has clearly taken a stronger turn more recently in our country. The obvious errors of government officials are being overturned and our schools are being forced to recognize our inalienable rights of freedom and liberty that comes from the first amendment. The laws of today are meant to protect us and keep control, but even laws can enslave men if not fair. And who decides fair? The same people who tell us how the laws should be enforced, so maybe it’s time to question if we are really free, and not just remain trapped behind an Iron Wall!

Show More
Related

  • Hazelwood East High School Case Summary

    582 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the majority opinion, Justice White wrote “Educators did not offend the First Amendment by exercising editorial control over the content of student speech so long as their actions were” The court also noted that the paper was a sponsored newspaper by the school which was not intended to be seen by the public, but rather for journalism students to write articles based off of the requirements for journalism 2 class, and all subjects must be appropriate for the school and all its

    Read More

  • Island Tree School District vs. Pico Benjamin Waldman Civics/4B 1/12/14

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    http://www.firstamendmentschools.org/freedoms/case.aspx?id=41>. . N. p.. Web. The Web. The Web. 14 Jan 2014.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Tinker V Des Moines

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    The case also states “A prohibition against expression of opinion, without any evidence that the rule is necessary to avoid substantial interference with school discipline or the rights of others, is not permissible under the First and Fourteenth Amendments” (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District). Because the students didn 't necessarily disrupt the education process, their First Amendment freedom of speech should not have been violated by the school officials.

    Read More

  • Supreme Court Case: Tinker V. Des Moines Independent Community School District

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Tinker v. Des Moines case, the students’ first amendment right was violated. They were not able to express their opinions freely. The first Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise of thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the right of press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances,” (Classifying Arguments in the Cas...

    Read More

  • Gun Control versus Gun Rights

    1430 Words  | 3 Pages

    In America guns have been a part of the country’s society since it’s birth. Throughout history the citizens of the US have used firearms to protect the nation, protect their families, hunt for food and engage in sporting activities. The issue of Guns and gun control is complex. Weighing the rights and liberties of the individual against the welfare and safety of the public has always been a precarious balancing act. In the United States, gun control is one of these tumultuous issues that has both sides firmly entrenched in their positions. Those parties in favor of gun ownership and the freedom to use and keep arms, rely on the fact that the provision for such rights is enshrined in their constitution. In this climate of growing violence, rife with turmoil and crime, gun advocates feel more than ever that their position is justified. As citizens of the “Land of the Free” possessing a gun is a fundamental right, and may even be a necessity... Anti- gun lobbyists point to the same growing violence and gun related crimes in an effort to call on the government to take action. By enacting more laws and stricter control, these people not in favor of guns feel society would be better safer.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Thomas Jefferson's Separation Of Church And State

    1838 Words  | 4 Pages

    When it came down to the government during the convention of May 1776, instead of protecting our rights they had passed them down causing us to be under common law. If one had denied the Christian faith and went against everything it believed in, such as, “there are more Gods than one, or denies the Christian religion to be true, or the scriptures to be of divine authority, he is punishable on the first offence by incapacity to hold any office or employment ecclesiastical, civil, or military,” (Jefferson 176). This is what most people had thought about if you did not follow their religion. Thomas Jefferson believed that the wall between church and state should be very high in order to keep out and prevent hostile situations. Using an example from today’s news, many people get uncomfortable in the United Stated with the Muslim religion because of the previous horrific events that led to many cruel deaths in our history. By this, the way that we look at these people is forever changed because of the incidents and who knows if we will ever not be hostile with one another because of it. If church and state hadn’t been separated we may have not become a true democracy from what our developing country was seeming to lead towards. More people would not be as accepting of each other, and not that they are still not today, but I feel as if it may

    Read More

  • American Civil Liberties: Do Americans Have Enough Protections for Civil Liberties, or Not?

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    Friedman, L. S. (2010). What Is the State of Civil Liberties in the United States?. Civil liberties (pp. 11-49). Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.

    Read More

  • The Words UNDER GOD Should Be Removed from the Pledge of Allegiance

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    President Obama sat down with the President of Turkey and told him “We have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values” (White House Press Release). Although the United States has a large Christian following we also have many religions within our culture; with an ongoing conflict against citizens that are nonreligious, Atheist, Agnostic, etcetera. The two words that were added to the Pledge of Allegiance proves the favoring of religion in a secular government. Even though the pledge does have a loyalty amongst the majority of citizens, we should remove the words "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance because by removing the words "Under God" it will give equality to everyone, hold us to be a Secular Government, not a Christian Nation and ?

    Read More

  • One Nation, Under God

    2046 Words  | 5 Pages

    With sounds of youthful laughter, conversations about the students’ weekends, and the shuffling of college ruled paper; students file into their classrooms and find their seats on a typical Monday morning. As the announcements travel throughout the school’s intercoms, the usual “Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance” becomes no longer usual but rather puzzling to some students. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.” Confusion passes through some of the student’s minds. With the reoccurrence of “God” in the backdrop of American life, the relationship between church and state has become of little to no matter for American citizens just as it has with American students. While congress makes no law respecting an establishment of religion, the term “freedom of religion” presents itself to no longer be the definition of “free”, while also having its effects on debates today. According to Burt Rieff, in Conflicting Rights and Religious Liberty, “Parents, school officials, politicians, and religious leaders entered the battle over defining the relationship between church and state, transforming constitutional issues into political, religious, and cultural debates” (Rieff). Throughout the 20th century, many have forgotten the meaning of religion and what its effects are on the people of today. With the nonconformist society in today’s culture, religion has placed itself in a category of insignificance. With the many controversies of the world, religion is at a stand still, and is proven to not be as important as it was in the past. Though the United States government is based on separation of church and state, the gover...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On The First Amendment

    1303 Words  | 3 Pages

    There have been many cases where exceptions have been made over the first amendment, such as in the Tinker vs. Des Moines Community School District Case. Teenagers by the name of Christopher Eckhardt and Mary Beth Tinker had planned to wear black armbands to their school to show their support for a truce in the Vietnam War. When word reached the principle, of Christopher and Mary Beth’s plan to arrive with the black armbands, the principal created a policy stating that, “any student wearing an armband would be asked to remove it, with refusal to do so resulting in suspension.” (The Oyez Project). After being kicked out of school, Tinker’s parents sued them but their case was dismissed due to the fact that the first amendment does not grant one the right to express their opinion at any place nor at any time. Another official claimed that the first amendment is not fully guaranteed to children. While the first amendment may be a boon to the United States, it is not always just. There are limitations, and conditions surrounding the first amendment and our freedom of speech. In Tinker’s case, her armband was seen as disruptive, and distracting to other students, justifying the school’s actions against the student of suspending and eventually expelling

    Read More

  • The Debate with "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    As James Madison, the fourth President of the United States said, “The religion of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man, and it is right of every man to exercise it as they may dictate” (Haynes, C...

    Read More

  • Planned Parenthood of PA v. Casey

    1705 Words  | 4 Pages

    Schultz, David, and John R. Vile. The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America. 710-712. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale Virtual Reference Library, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. .

    Read More

  • What Is Natural Selection?

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are two different parts of natural selection. There is natural selection itself and then there is also non-adaptive evolution. Natural selection deals with the change of allele frequencies because of the change in the environment. The allele frequencies give us an indication of how much variation there is in a population. A population wants more variation because it allows the population to deal

    Read More

  • Gun Control in America

    1914 Words  | 4 Pages

    The first and simplest way to show that gun control will not work is to look to the past. Usually, people learn from their past mistakes and from other’s past mistakes in history. Sadly, American society has clearly shown a lack of development in this topic. If we travel back roughly ten years from now, we will have entered a time of gun control that our current government is pushing to achieve once again. According to PolicyMic.com, The Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, or otherwise known as the Act of 1994 or The Crime Bill, was instituted in September 13th, 1994. The United States law prohibited or otherwise banned the production of semi-automatic firearms and ammunition feeding devices, more commonly known as magazines. This bill would later be ruled unconstitutional in 2004 during an era of right wing reign in the government. Many left wings and ...

    Read More

  • The Effects and Consequences of Gun Control

    2071 Words  | 5 Pages

    “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The right of all Americans to bear arms is a right the Founding Fathers held to equal importance as the Constitution itself. Gun control laws directly violate this right and therefore should not even be under consideration. Even if that issue is overlooked, gun control advocates state that in order to reduce firearm related violence, gun control laws must be implemented to remove the violence caused by firearms. Although this may seem reasonable, the consequences of such laws are ironically counterproductive; they exacerbate the problem instead of fixing it. Besides the fact that the American Constitution guarantees its citizens the right to bear arms, the idea of restricting gun ownership in order to reduce firearm-related violence would ultimately fail given the previous experiments of gun control in England and in numerous states.

    Read More

More about The Iron Wall

Open Document