Differences between law, religion

When our country was founded, way back in the day, Strom Thurmond and the other founding fathers (what, Thurmond wasn't around back then? oops) wrote our Constitution with several different ideas in mind for creating a more perfect nation. Thrown in that document was the decision to keep church and state separate. \nThere was to be no national religion, as had often been the case in the other countries of the old world. So, the thought was, keeping it separate from the government would create a country in which people from any religion would be able to come and live freely and celebrate their religion with no worries of persecution. While it's true that this has worked better in theory than in practice, it seems as if more and more, that line is getting blurred. \nNews came out of Garrard County, Ky., Tuesday that a courthouse is fighting the American Civil Liberties Union's civil suit against it to take its copy of the Ten Commandments down. Back in December 1999, this courthouse posted the display after a request to have it posted by a local minister. The lawsuit was just recently filed by the ACLU, and with good reason. Posting the Ten Commandments in a state building sends conflicting messages. The First Amendment says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." While this statement is a little open to interpretation, I think "prohibiting the free exercise thereof" probably would translate into not having religious documents in state buildings. Which is why the posting of the Ten Commandments should not be allowed. \nThis issue isn't even a unique one in Kentucky. According to information found on the ACLU's Web site (www.aclu.org), U.S. District Judge Jennifer B. Coffman made two rulings over the course of a year on cases pertaining to the Ten Commandments and government buildings. \nCoffman said in a statement on June 22nd, "Given the religious nature of this document, placing it among these patriotic and political documents, with no other religious symbols or moral codes of any kind, imbues it with a national significance constituting endorsement."\nThere it is, put together by a legal official stating why they shoudl be seperated. Another thing that goes along with the separation of church and state is the inclusion of prayer in school. This topic has been a hot issue of late, with many people wanting prayer to be included once again at the start of the day. If this was a private religious school, there is no problem. The problem develops when one wants to include prayer in public schools. Kids don't go to school for religion; they go to learn academic subjects such as math and history. Prayer shouldn't be included. If parents want their children to have prayer at the start of the day, then they should have their kids pray with them before they leave for school. \n I know that there are many people in this country who take their religion very seriously, including some in towns near here and students who attend IU. That is great, and it's their prerogative. Yet, what they need to keep in mind is that while they are quite proud of their beliefs, and no matter how many people share them, not everyone shares them. So items or activities pertaining to their beliefs have no place in public schools or government buildings. To include them goes against the very things upon which this country was built. \nBe proud of what you believe in, just don't post it at the courthouse for everyone to see.