Can one really be a patriot and ignore – no, derogate – the First Amendment. In all of the pseudo flag waving opposition to the Islamic cultural center which may someday be built two blocks north of the World Trade Center site, almost no one mentions the Constitution. So I wonder, do most Americans even know what is written in the Constitution and the bill of rights? Do they even teach about the constitution in schools anymore? Because, the First Amendment does exist – and it states that there shall be, “no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
In fact the First Amendment was designed and written to keep government out of the religion business. It’s a little something nostalgically referred to as “separation of church and state” – although there are some ignorant right wing zealots that swear it does not exist. But, the fact is that religious tolerance has been a cornerstone of American democracy since its earliest days.
Yale professor, David Bromwich, recently wrote an article which reported this historical exchange:
“As to religion,” wrote Thomas Paine in Common Sense, “I hold it to be the indispensable duty of all government, to protect all conscientious professors thereof, and I know of no other business which government hath to do therewith.” But did Paine and others mean to extend such toleration to Muslims? They did, and they said they did. The question was openly debated whether religious liberty ought to be extended to such outliers as Catholics, Muslims and Jews. In the debate on the Constitution, for example, in the North Carolina convention, on July 30, 1788, Henry Abbot wondered if there were not considerable danger in granting a federal government the power to make treaties. Could not a treaty be made “engaging with foreign powers to adopt the Roman catholic religion in the United States, which would prevent people from worshiping God according to their own consciences.”
A conclusive reply to Abbot was given by James Iredell:
“How is it possible to exclude any set of men, without taking away that principle of religious freedom which we ourselves so warmly contend for? This is the foundation on which persecution has been raised in every part of the world. The people in power were always in the right, and every body else wrong. If you admit the least difference, the door to persecution is opened.”
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How then can any American, or anyone who believes in freedom and liberty, walk away from these ideals? We cannot pick and choose when we will adhere to the Constitution. It must be all or nothing. Either we are all free, or none of us are. Otherwise the Constitution is meaningless. No Islamic center near “ground zero.” What is next? What about those child abusing Catholic priests – should we not permit any Catholic churches anywhere near a school or playground? It is a dangerous and slippery slope, indeed.
A definition of “patriot” is, “a proud supporter or defender of his or her country and its way of life.” So who are the real patriots then? Are they those who wave the flag in hollow tribute to abandoned liberties and ideals? I think not. The true patriots are those who will stand against ignorance and intolerance of any kind, to uphold and defend the Constitution, even when such ideals are politically and socially unpopular.
