Come Casual

Regardless of the church one attends,
    Or whether one attends at all,
Integrity and honor and all that is good
        Comes from a noble heart
              And not a religion.

                              rlkilgore

      Freedom of religion was envisioned by our forefathers to be the allowance of worship of God as presented in the Bible by whatever means a person wished.  When they said “separation of church and state” they wanted to ensure the government did not dictate the manner in which that God was worshipped.  However, it is obvious they wanted the inclusion of a “Biblical God” in government by their frequent references to God in the founding documents.  Other religions in America and Europe at that time were of such small measure to be of little consequence.  I doubt any of those men dreamed of what was to come.

     First, the atheists.  Atheism is a sort of religion.  As in Christianity and Judaism where there is a belief by faith that there is a God, the atheists believe by faith that there is no God.  Both beliefs are by faith because neither can be proved.  Atheists were not new to our forefathers but the voice they have today, aided by a liberal judicial system, would astound George Washington and his colleagues.  The strict interpretation of the separation of church and state being applied to our institutions and lives today will serve to weaken the core “Judeo-Christian” values on which our country was built.  References to God are being stricken from our government buildings and public schools, and the traditional institution of marriage between a man and woman is being assaulted (it would be simple enough for gays to have a civil union recognized by law to serve their needs).  These changes are being pressed by vocal minorities with special self-interests not in keeping with the welfare of our nation.

     However, the main threat to our doctrine (and Law) of freedom of religion is the growing presence of the Islamic religion in the United States (and the world).  This is a religion centered around the God of the Koran which has its own laws and dictates.  The problem comes when Islamic peoples place their religious laws above those of our government.  Their allegiances are to Islam and not America.

     Our free society allows Muslims to live in America and some openly express their contempt for us and their desire to destroy our country.  We cannot know what is in the mind of one so that brings into question the thoughts of all.  These Muslims are protected by our laws now, but how long will the American people allow the protection to continue?  Herein lies the coming breech in our venerated Freedom of Religion.

                                                                                           rlkilgore@chartertn.net          2009

If death were as peaceful slumber
Sailing on a gentle sea
With cooling warmth from summer breezes
And lying there were she with me
To fill love’s idyllic dreams,
Ambrosia for eternity,
Then hasten coming of that day.

Futility begs a minute glimpse,
By means worldly senses lack,
To dispel musings wary
Of conjecture’s wishfulness
Gauging immortality -
But certainty is today’s possession
And there reason enough to tarry.

                                      rlkilgore

rlkilgore@chartertn.net

As far back as history records
there seems to be,
Even with skeptics,
A universal craving for life
To continue after death.
Religions are a means
Of organizing the afterlife
Into a form the mind
Is able to manage.
But, is the notion
of life prior to birth,
Which human senses lack
The capacity to recall,
Any greater reach?
Perhaps we are a cosmic existence
Of which life on earth
Is an interlude,
A sojourn, a vacation -
For some a pleasant week
At the beach and for others
A nightmare
Where all the flights get cancelled.

                                rlkilgore

You, Profaneness, flung in blasphemy,
Reeking contempt with arrogant bravado
Of Hell’s abyss, you are a belief
Of disbelief whose consequences
Require no answer, for there is
No other, other than yourself.

But what of you, Pious Pride,
Ensconced so smugly in your convictions?
What influence you wield, what power
And wealth to proselytize by cajolement,
And if failing, bloodshed, regardless
Of your creed or your sect or culture.

Whether viewed as light to darkness
Or darkness passing into Light,
Passion holds no sway.
Which is the blinded fool
Is, perhaps, only he
Who presumes to know.

                       rlkilgore