Rural County lacks Separation of Church and State

 Dear X County Sheriff, and X County Courthouse,

Sheriff Z, although I appreciate your calls for unity and respect in a post on the X County Sheriff Facebook page, I oppose your calls to “be more Christian” or “be Americans with Christian values”. As a government employee, you should uphold the Separation of Church and State and refrain from putting your religion forward on that forum. You are more than able to share your personal beliefs on your personal Facebook page. The same restraint goes for any government-related social media or community correspondence. 

To the X County Courthouse, I am opposed to the Nativity Scene I finally noticed on the Courthouse lawn. (I live out of town and have been staying safe at home during the pandemic.)  County/taxpayer/government property should be free of religious paraphernalia and iconography. Since it’s too difficult to encompass all faith/belief systems, you should promote none. Please do not use these or similar decorations in the future. There are plenty of secular seasonal decorations that can be utilized. 

Again, all government institutions must uphold Separation of Church and State and show no preference for any religious belief system over another. The promotion of any religion from a government organization is biased, unconstitutional, and at the very least polarizing to those of differing viewpoints. 

I hope you take this feedback into account, re-evaluate, and implement these requests for a more appropriate display of non-religious preference or promotion from government sources. If you want all to feel welcome in this community, sometimes that takes a bit of introspection to understand what you take for granted as “the norm” is not the experience of everyone else. 

The idea that we are a “Christian nation” is false and detrimental to the freedoms and respect that we mutually desire. I encourage similar re-evaluation and learning for other concepts and people that don’t seem to be “the norm” in this area. 

Thank you for re-evaluating and working to respect and welcome all.

Sincerely,

A X County Resident Who Believes in the Separation of Church & State

UPDATE 1/13/2021

Greetings, Recipients of my email calling for a renewed approach to Separation of Church and State from X County government sources, re, mention of Christianity and a Nativity Scene on the Courthouse lawn. 

I hope you are doing well. I regret to bother you as I know you have important work to do but, I did receive a response from M, and wanted to share my thoughts on his response with all of you.

M

Wed, Jan 13 at 7:56 AM

So then what do you think Christmas is all about?  We have contemporary displays on the court house lawn also like a big snowman etc.

I hope that most of you reading this can immediately identify M’s response as unprofessional and unhelpful. It actually reinforces everything from my email: the need for introspection on bias and the importance of honoring the Separation of Church and State. 

Although I do not know M, I am aware that he was just sworn in as a Commissioner, and has been serving as a Vets Affairs Administrator (and still will?) and I would assume as a government and elected official, part of the oath is to uphold the law AND to serve the residents of X County, both of which I find lacking in his response. I assume he is aware his response carries weight due to his position(s) and will put more thought into these interactions from now on. 

When I received his flippant two sentence response that challenges my presumed beliefs about Christmas and disregards the legal matter I initiated, I have to wonder what is motivating M and how can I trust him in office if he cannot respond thoughtfully and professionally to my assertion of a well known legal duty of Separation of Church and State?

From M’s response to me, I’m presuming that:

• M can tell the difference between a religious display (Nativity) and secular display (snowman)

• M assumes that because I invoke Separation of Church and State, I must not celebrate Christmas like he does or must not understand the holiday.

• (This is a false concept - people of faith can and should want BOTH freedom of religion AND Separation of Church and State to be protected and upheld) 

• M asserts that his way of celebrating (re: Christianity, Nativity) is the correct answer which belittles and doesn’t protect freedom of religion of his constituents. 

M’s rhetorical question to me is not appropriate, no matter his intent. Separation of Church and State is not merely an opinion of mine that can be dismissed because M might interpret it as a challenge to his concept of Christmas. It is a tenet, a foundation of our government that must be upheld, so no, faith-based decorations should not be on government property. This is not an attack on religion, but a neutral protection of it per the law.

While I don’t know M, and I don’t bear ill will, I don’t want to be stuck in an email loop forever (as I’m sure none of you do). My desire is to use this moment to reiterate that anyone in a government position, whether elected or not, has a unique challenge to be introspective in how one’s own belief systems may prevent one from being unbiased in one’s duties. 

If one is raised in a certain religion and finds many people in one’s immediate circle are the same, it can be easy to blur the lines of what is “normal” or “common” or even “correct”. This most definitely extends to other areas such as sexual preference, gender orientation, or any other number of ways humans get divided. We need to constantly reassess and grow for the better. I assume there is some sort of training within the government for these matters. Please note it is a valuable practice in a world more divided all the time.

To reiterate, and hopefully not have to do so again (ie, no contrary response is necessary, but an action-oriented 'this is how we're addressing it' email would of course be welcomed), I’m reminding members of the X County government how the freedom of religion is best protected by Separation of Church and State, hence calling for zero religious displays on the Courthouse lawn, and keeping this neutrality in mind in any meetings or government forums. Paired with introspection on bias, this allows the government, and its individuals, to remain impartial and to find ways in which our community can be more welcoming of others. 

Thank you for doing your part in re-evaluating how Separation of Church and State is upheld in government spaces in X County and how to be more welcoming to your constituents and any visitors to the area. 

Sincerely, 

A X County Resident Who Believes in the Separation of Church and State

UPDATE 2 ON 1/13/2021

RESPONSE FROM 2ND COMMISSIONER:

I would like to thank you for your email.  We can all use a little constructive criticism.  It keeps us from being complacent in our duties.

In response to the comment that we are not a Christian Nation; that is correct, we are not just a Christian Nation.  Our nation is made up of many faiths not just the Christian Faith.  We are, however, a Nation that was founded on religious principles.  I’m reminded of that every time I recite the Pledge of Allegiance. [ONE NATION UNDER GOD], and whenever I take currency from my pocket [IN GOD WE TRUST].

To answer your concern of separation of church and state, there was an article in the NEW YORK TIMES dated January 16th 2018 that addresses the misconception of Church and State.

Quoting the article, “the text of the 1786 Virginia Statutes for religious freedom gives insight into our nation’s First Amendment Right. It reads “no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.’

In short, the act affirmed what we should recognize in every era: the right to practice any faith, or to have no faith, is a foundational freedom for all Americans.  This right is also behind what Jefferson meant when he spoke of the ‘wall of separation’ between the church and the state.

In its day, a constitutional prohibition that the state would not establish or restrain personal faith was truly revolutionary.  Sadly, in many countries today, religious freedom is still revolutionary.  America has the obligation to live this truth and demonstrate the depth of this powerful human right.

Unlike many places in the world, our government is not prohibited from referencing or accommodating religion, nor is the government compelled to scrub all religious references from the public square.  Rather, the First Amendment ensures both that the government does not show preference to a certain religion and that the government does not take away an individual’s ability to exercise religion.  In other words, the church should not rule over the state, and the state cannot rule over the church.  Religion is too important to be a government program or a political pageant.

Thankfully the courts have affirmed this time and time again.

In the case of Town of Greece v. Galloway, the court was clear that the government cannot coerce someone to participate in a particular religion, but it also should not attempt to restrict all acts of faith from the public square.  The concept of a ‘separation of church and state’ reinforces the legal right of a free people to freely live their faith, even in public; without fear of government coercion.  Free exercise means you may have a faith and you may live it.”

This should explain the existence of the Nativity Scene on the courthouse lawn. I would add that the Nativity does not belong to the county, nor is it stored on county property, and is not erected by county employees on county time.

The county has put up secular holiday displays and would consider other secular and non-secular tasteful displays to be erected if requested.

Hope this answers your concerns

Thank-you 

D
K
M

Commissioner

MY RESPONSE TO D:

D

Thank you for your well thought-out response. I appreciate your openness to hearing from constituents and responding respectfully. I appreciate the inclusion of information about legislature which tells me this was a researched response. 

I do want to point out that "Under God" and "In God We Trust" were added to the pledge and money in the 1950's as a fear-based reaction to Communism and Atheism aka "The Red Scare". The daughter of the author of the pledge (originally penned in the 1890s) voiced opposition to "under God" being added to the pledge in the 1950's. I do find that the inclusion of God in these places does muddy the idea of freedom of belief for our country; and fear is not a reliable rationalization for legislature :) 

I appreciate the information that the Nativity scene is not county property, nor stored on county property, nor erected by county employees. This information is good to know, but visually, the Nativity scene causes concern I had originally expressed. I still prefer government property to be free of religious decoration, but again, I appreciate the information and time put into your response. 

Thank you

X County Resident Who Believes in the Separation of Church and State :)