Tyranny
of the Atheist Minority
By William J. Federer
Daily there are news reports of atheists: offended
by prayers at graduations and football games; offended by a Cross or Star
of David; offended by Christmas carols or patriotic hymns; offended by Christmas
trees and menorahs; offended by the Ten
Commandments or “under God” in the Pledge
of Allegiance; offended a teacher might hint there may be a Creator; offended
a soldier said 
“God
bless you” at a funeral; offended the Boy Scout Oath says “Do my duty to God
and my country”; or offended by a cross on a Veterans Memorial.
Whereas basic Christian teaching is to
forgive when offended, these atheists, when offended, protest, intimidate,
threaten and sue to have their will enforced as law.
But exactly how many atheists are in America,
anyway? On February 25, 2008 USA Today
published the results of the U.S. Religious
Landscape Survey, conducted by The Pew Forum on Religion & Public
Life. This survey ‘of the people’ reported that 80.2 percent of Americans
hold Judeo-Christian beliefs (51.3 percent Evangelical/Mainline Protestant
Christian; 23.9 percent Catholic; 1.6 percent Orthodox & other Christian;
1.7 percent Mormon; and 1.7 percent Jewish.)
Imagine that – only 1.6 percent atheists,
yet their beliefs are becoming the law of the land. A minority forcing its will
on the majority – isn't this the classic definition of tyranny? Americans may
as well be back in colonial times when the king of England used government to
enforce his minority views.
The
Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, stated: “The history of the
present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and
usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute
Tyranny over these States. ... A Prince, whose character is thus marked by
every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”
In accepting the Democrat Party's
re-nomination for president, June 27, 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt stated: “In
1776, we sought freedom from the tyranny of a political autocracy – from the
18th century royalists who held special privileges from the crown. It was to
perpetuate their privilege that they governed without the consent of the
governed; that they denied the right of free assembly and free speech; that
they restricted the worship of God.” Roosevelt explained America's founders
fought the Revolution so ‘the people’ could be their own rulers.
Abraham Lincoln agreed in his Gettysburg Address, Nov. 19, 1863: “That
this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government
of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Alexander Hamilton said in New York's
ratification debates, June 21, 1788: “The will of the people makes the
essential principle of the government.”
Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816: “Try...every
provision of our Constitution, and
see if it hangs directly on the will of the people.” (A.E. Bergh, Writings,
15:32)
James Madison wrote in Philadelphia, Jan.
31, 1792: “The past frequency of wars [is traced] to a will in the government
independent of the will of the people. But is the will of the people still
reflected in government? Are the people still their own rulers?”
Lincoln warned in his First Inaugural Address, 1861: “The candid citizen must confess
that if the policy of the government upon vital questions affecting the whole
people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the
instant they are made...the people will have ceased to be their own rulers.”
In order to see if the government reflects
the beliefs of the people, one must find out what the people believe.
Similar to the Pew Survey noted above, the
CIA.gov website's World Factbook
(2007) reported that 80.2 percent of the U.S. population holds Judeo-Christian
beliefs.
The
American Religious Identification Survey (2001), conducted by The Graduate
Center of the City University of New York, reported that 77.8 percent of the
U.S. population holds Judeo-Christian beliefs (52 percent Protestant, 24.5
percent Catholic, 1.3 percent Jewish). The rest of the population was 0.5
percent Muslim; 0.5 percent Buddhist; 0.5 percent Agnostic; 0.4 percent Hindu;
0.3 percent Unitarian-Universalist; 0.1 percent Wiccan-Pagan-Druid; 13.2
percent Secular; 6.3 percent Spiritualist-Native American-Baha'i-New
Age-Scientology-Humanist-Deist-Taoist-Eckankar...and only 0.4 percent atheist.
According to these surveys, between 77.8
percent to 80.2 percent of the current U.S. population holds Judeo-Christian
beliefs, and only 0.4 percent to 1.6 percent of Americans hold atheistic
beliefs.
A Harris Poll (2003) reported 90 percent of
Americans believe in God; a Newsweek
poll (2007) reported 91 percent of Americans believe in God; and a Fox News
poll (2004) reported 92 percent of Americans believe in God. If the will of the
majority of ‘the people’ is not reflected in the laws, then the country is no
longer ‘democratic,’ but has devolved into a tyranny, where a minority forces
its will upon the majority.
Could it be that the current debate over
religion in America is not between the ‘religious right’ and the ‘liberal left,’
but rather it is a debate between the will of the majority and the will of, as
George Washington warned in his Farewell
Address, ‘an artful and enterprising minority’?
Could it be that the struggle is between a
constitutional republic with representatives elected ‘by the people’ and the
despotism of, as Lincoln put it, ‘an eminent tribunal’?
Could it be that the battle is actually
between American democracy and tyranny?
In his classic wisdom, President Ronald
Reagan stated:
“Sometimes I can't help but feel the First Amendment is being turned on its
head. ...The First Amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect
the people from religion; that Amendment
was written to protect religion from government tyranny.” (Reagan, 1984 radio
address)
“The First
Amendment has been twisted to the point that freedom of religion is in
danger of becoming freedom from religion.” (Reagan, Oct. 13, 1983, Q & A
Session with the Press)
“To those who cite the First Amendment as reason for excluding God ... may I just say: The
First Amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect
the people of this country from religious values; it was written to protect
religious values from government tyranny.” (Reagan, March 15, 1982, to Alabama
State Legislature)
“[Our] Founding Fathers ... enshrined the
principle of freedom of religion in the First
Amendment....The purpose of that Amendment
was to protect religion from the interference of government and to guarantee,
in its own words, ‘the free exercise of religion.’” (Reagan, 1982 radio
address)
“The Constitution
was never meant to prevent people from praying; its declared purpose was to
protect their freedom to pray.” (Reagan, 1982 radio address)
“Well-meaning Americans in the name of
freedom have taken freedom away. For the sake of religious tolerance, they've
forbidden religious practice.” (Reagan, May 6, 1982, National Day of Prayer, White
House)
“The frustrating thing is that those who are
attacking religion claim they are doing it in the name of tolerance and freedom
and open-mindedness. Question: Isn't the real truth that they are intolerant of
religion?” (Reagan, Aug. 23, 1984, Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast)
“In the last two decades we've experienced
an onslaught of such twisted logic that if Alice were visiting America, she
might think she'd never left Wonderland. We're told that it somehow violates
the rights of others to permit students in school who desire to pray to do so.
Clearly, this infringes on the freedom of those who choose to pray....To
prevent those who believe in God from expressing their faith is an outrage.”
(Reagan, Sept. 25, 1982, Ceremony for Prayer in Schools)
“Refusal to permit [religious exercises] is
seen not as the realization of state neutrality, but rather as the
establishment of a religion of secularism.” (Reagan, 1984 radio address)
After reviewing America's poll numbers and
Reagan's responses in today's climate of ACLU lawsuits, hate-crime legislation,
secular revisionism and activist judges trumping the will of the people –
one wonders about the future of Lincoln's hope: “That government of the people,
by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”
William J. Federer is a nationally known speaker, best-selling author,
and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching
America's noble heritage. His book America's
God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations
has sold over a half-million copies, and his American Minute radio feature,
recalling events of American significance on the date they occurred, is broadcast
daily across the country and read by thousand on the Internet. His most recent books are Backfired: A Nation
Born for Religious Tolerance no Longer Tolerates Religion and Three Secular Reasons Why America Should
Be Under God. To subscribe to the American
Minute emails or purchase Bill Federer’s books visit www.AmericanMinute.com
or call 1-888-USA-WORD. Bill may also be contacted at wjfederer@aol.com or
by calling (314) 487-4395. He may also
be contacted via mail at William J. Federer, PO Box 20163, St. Louis, MO 63123.
