Constitutional scholar Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) blew aside Speaker Mike Johnson’s declare that the Bible comes earlier than the Structure.
Raskin, when requested about Johnson’s feedback on MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki, mentioned:
Let’s begin with this: After we take our oath of workplace, we place our hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Structure.
We don’t lay our arms on the Structure or swear to uphold the Bible. The structure is the governing doc of the nation. And naturally we have now a mess of beliefs and folks can select their religion or no religion in any respect. And that is what Jefferson and… Adams and Madison fought for the American Revolution, the Declaration and the Structure.
Video from Raskin:
I imply, the large breakthrough of the US Structure was rebelling in opposition to centuries of non secular battle. The wars between the Catholics and the Protestants and the Inquisition and Crusades and witchcraft trials and all that. They mentioned, we need to base the federal government on a secular precept, which is not any institution of faith, no non secular check for public workplace and free train.
Everybody can worship precisely as she or he desires. However I’ve colleagues who get up. Not way back, somebody stood up and mentioned, America’s ethical downfall occurred in 1962, with Engel versus Vitale. the place the Supreme Courtroom banned prayer in public faculties. And I needed to remind him: No, the Supreme Courtroom has by no means banned prayer in public faculties.
So long as there are well-liked math quizzes, there will probably be prayer within the public faculties, proper? The one factor the Supreme Courtroom mentioned in Engel vs. Vitali is that the federal government can not drive you to hope in accordance with a script that the federal government writes. And that case got here from. New York, the lawsuit was filed by Catholic households who mentioned there was a Protestant prayer that was imposed on everybody.
And that’s in fact the large argument or one of many important arguments for the separation of church and state and never establishing faith. What occurs is that one church beneficial properties management of the federal government course of after which imposes its theological orthodoxy and self-discipline on all of the others. And that’s the reason it’s acceptable.
Raskin was proper, and Johnson’s perception that the Bible comes earlier than the Structure is what makes him so harmful ready of energy. Speaker Johnson doesn’t consider in democracy. The nation was based on account of non secular persecution. That’s the reason there’s a separation between church and state.
The excellent news is that in simply over a 12 months, it is extremely possible that Mike Johnson will fade again into obscurity, and Jamie Raskin will lead the Home Oversight Committee.
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Jason is the editor-in-chief. He’s additionally a White Home press pool and congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s diploma in political science. His graduate work targeted on public coverage, with a specialization in social reform actions.
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