As an American, My Religion Is Based on The Constitution and the Bill of Rights
A Diverse Society Must Adhere to "One" Set of Governing Principles
It is Easter Sunday, a religious holiday for most Americans. The following comments seem appropriate considering the ongoing political, racial, cultural, and religious turmoil in the United States.
In ancient times (and in the few remaining modern-day theocracies), a common religion and its guiding principles and documents (e.g., the Christian Bible, Muslim Koran and Sharia, Jewish Torah and Halakhah, etc.) were the basis for controlling human behavior within the various domains of society.
In a modern-day diverse society like the United States, many different religions, races, cultures, and ethnicities live together. This diversity inevitably leads to differing moral and ethical principles guiding and controlling human behavior. There must be mutually agreed-upon principles by which the behavior of all citizens and residents is governed.
In the United States, those principles are enshrined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations governing the behavior of individual citizens, corporations, religious institutions, churches, and all other institutions and organizations must adhere to the principles stated in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights – no exceptions.
Your religion, in a diverse society, is for you to practice, personally, and together with others who believe as you do. I believe religion should not be practiced in public or actively proselytized to other citizens. Nor should any religion or organized set of beliefs receive preferential treatment within a diverse society. There must be a clear separation of federal, state, and local governments from any and all religions, including my own.
The United States of America’s existence as a constitutional republic depends on its citizens’ recognition of, understanding of, belief in, and adherence to the dictates of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Any citizen or organization that violates the principles enshrined in America’s Constitution is, by definition, a traitor.