Dear Editor,
Mark Pike is only partially correct in his letter. The similarities between the U.S. Constitution and the ideals of Christianity do not exist because the Constitution is based on Christian ideals, but because both the Constitution and Christianity emanate from the same source. That Christianity claims the Creator of the Universe as its God is not a valid reason to suggest that any system of belief that recognizes the supremacy of the Creator of the Universe is necessarily Christian. For example, the government of the United States shares many fundamental principles with other forms of government around the globe. Yet no one would suggest that these governments are necessarily American.
By definition, Christianity is exclusive. It allows for peaceful coexistence with other religions but will not allow the practice of other forms of religion within a Christian context. The First Amendment is inherently pluralistic. The Free Exercise clause implicitly recognizes Christianity as only one of many possible relationships of man to the Creator, and any group of Americans is free to "establish" that form of expression for the members of that group. However, the Establishment Clause ensures that all forms of religious expression (or nonexpression) coexist peaceably and on an equal footing within the American context by prohibiting Federal and State legislatures (by application of the Fourteenth Amendment) from establishing any singular form of religious expression for the entire nation.
Our chosen form of government is pluralistic in that it attempts to peaceably coexist with other forms of government to be practiced within the territorial limits of the United States. This is the paradigm that the Constitution imposes on religious expression within the United States. Efforts to separate religion from government will necessarily result in conflict because of the strong links between the two. The conflict lies in inability of some to differentiate between "public religion," which refers to the particular form in which citizens decide to express that obligation either as individuals or in concert with other like-minded citizens.
Darius A. Lecointe
Research Design Consultant
University Computing Services
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