There has always been controversy concerning the separation of church and state which grew out of the First Amendment and seems to be partial to the religious side, rather than emphasis on religion should make no laws infringing on the laws of the land. Before the ecumenical council the Catholic Church did just that by discriminating against women, insisting they cover their heads while in church to symbolize the original sin of Eve. This was a direct violation of human dignity implied in the founding of this nation and should not have been tolerated. The puritanical insistence of stoning or the scaffold as punishment should not have been allowed, particularly in violation of the right to impartial civil trial which just happened to be conducted by puritanical fathers of a given village. For two hundred years the nation disregarded the health and well-being of women by winking at the cruel practice of back alley abortion. The religious infringement on patriotic custom symbolized by the Pledge should never have been allowed to insert “under God.” In the early days of the nation the custom to open session with prayer, however generic, should have been contested as closing the gap set forth in the separation clause. Born-agains infesting the administration should not be allowed to join hands to call up the powers of a divinity on government time.

This said, the nation will never allow a Christian theocracy to usurp the Constitution, which in the end is too firmly grounded on the intellect of democratic principles and substantially guarded by the ghosts of the founding fathers against the likes of Robertson, Falwell and the pope who tend to blame the malaise of society on those who fail to follow Christ’s teachings as interpreted by current leaders. Nonetheless, that there is such controversy undermines the battle with the real enemy which is Islam that advocates an unswerving hatred for anything free that smacks of human dignity and defiantly ignores the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights [UDHR] in effect since 1948. Of course, there are countries that thumb their noses at UDHR, but most are at least open to change in order to reflect the spirit of human rights. Islam is not; for even in nations such as Turkey and Egypt that have turned moderately secular, the negative influence of Islam still festers rebellion and ultimate power that transgress efforts to modernize and modify an intolerant religion.

Though Islam is loaded with influential ayatollahs, there is no global central control dictating its objectives — it is left to the rogue terrorists to achieve the objective of world domination, to which a billion and a half believers worldwide lend testimony by the acceptance, and emphasis in their schools of jihad, which, though not necessarily violent, surely blasphemes other cultures and religions. This new threat requires no less than the commitment to the cold war in containing communism.

This may, not unlike fifty years of the cold war, entail hot spots as in Afghanistan to rout the openly proclaimed enemy, and precision targets on defiant undercover packs. Primarily, the cold war would be a clash of ideas without reference to religion of any kind. It would be an operation predicated on the right to free the mind of bias through bombardments of radio free Europe extended primarily to the Middle East and Asia to air modern ideas and philosophies, many of which would be the great philosophers of the Middle East before the fourteenth century that stressed many ideas that the West itself adapted. Cooperation from Arab media would be sought to air a free exchange of lifestyles round the world. These regions would be flooded by computers and television with satellite to enrich the minds of the people so long captive in darkness. Libraries would be subsidized generously to stock the shelves of the world’s heritage. Interpol and special forces would be greatly funded in recruiting Muslims to help rout these enemies of freedom. These nations should be exposed to massive propaganda to vote out, or at least demonstrate their restiveness to, ruling thugs and callous clergy. Women’s organizations must spread the word of the importance of equality in the structure of family, and the tremendous contribution to their societies by working women. The United Nations must aggressively distribute the article of the UN Charter, UDHR, throughout the regions.

If in five years there is no significant improvement, The UN must pass a resolution that all theocratically controlled Islamic nations will be responsible for terrorist acts clearly carried out under jihad and subject to swift retaliation and possible expulsion of membership.

   Copyright © 2004 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: March 31, 2004.