Sunday, September 6, 2015
"'In God We Trust' Decals Draw Complaints Against Police" - Leah Messinger (period 1)
The article I read this week was about a very controversial topic in the small town of Childress, TX. The local police department in the "Bible Belt community" has put 'In God we trust' decals on the back of several of their police cars in response to recent violence against officers. The decals, meant as a sign of patriotism, are making some residents of the area very uncomfortable and causing people to say that the act is unconstitutional. There are two understandable sides to the argument. One side claiming that the decals are offensive to other religions and that it seems as if the officers are trying to endorse a religion. The other more popular side in this Texas community is that this country was built on the ideas of religious freedom and trusting in God. In fact, the Puritans who settled in Massachusetts Bay Colony sailed here because of that very trust. It baffles many that this statement can be printed on U.S money without question but can't be expressed by the people that protect us in our cities and towns.
This article relates to U.S history because religious tolerance has been in our constitution since the beginning but so has the separation of church and state. This simple gesture meant to comfort the community of Childress, TX has in fact done the opposite. What has meant to bind them together has caused a divide of what exactly is unconstitutional. In conclusion, this article is very relevant to U.S history and what we have read about the Puritans devotion to God, but also their tendency in the to banish those who have opposing beliefs.
http://www.newsmax.com/US/US-Police-Religious-Decals/2015/09/06/id/673816/
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I can definitely see both sides of the spectrum. I believe this is a violation of separation between state and the church and if this is making people uncomfortable, they should definitely remove them. There is no need to try and instigate anything. You should be free to worship as you please, but when it crosses over into things that are directly connected to the government, it begins to become a violation.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a direct violation of church and state as Christianity is "church" and the police are "state" officials. Religious freedom is thrown out the window when it comes to church vs state because they should just never cross. In their citizen lives the police may practice as they please, but there are even other police who have a right to religious freedom and this would be rude to them if other policemen and women brought up religion in a government institute.
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