KIRO NEWSRADIO OPINION
Ross: Supreme Court must address the issue of Church vs. State
On Monday the Supreme Court decided NOT to hear arguments about a government-sponsored prayer vigil.
The prayer vigil in question took place in Ocala, Fla., back in 2014 and was organized by Ocala city officials – in response to a series of drive-by shootings. Not only did the police chief sign a letter encouraging residents to attend the vigil, but the event was led by two chaplains in police uniform!
And so, a couple of atheists sued, saying the event amounted to an establishment of religion.
I was disappointed to see the court pass on this case because, at some point, this court needs to tackle the undertow created by its abortion decision.
The growing movement to define America as a Christian nation.
The latest Pew Research poll shows 60% of Americans think the founders intended this to be a Christian nation, and 45% of Americans still believe it SHOULD be.
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And I see only one way to see who’s right: To test the boundaries.
In those areas of the country where it’s popular to mix church and state – try it out. Try to solve problems with state-sponsored religious programs.
But since it’s public money – as taxpayers we would insist on gathering the data. We have to be able to compare the results between the religious states and the less-religious states.
And the experiment should apply to every issue – from school violence to homelessness to traffic congestion to preventing football injuries.
And I say the religious states should not hold back – assign specific social problems to specific denominations – even specific congregations! Then set the deadlines, do the audits, and collect the results.
That would generate a lot of data and a LOT of lawsuits. But that’s exactly what it will take.
From the beginning of time, we human beings have argued over the power of religion to solve problems.
Well, it’s time to find out once and for all what thousands of years of religious conflict have been unable to determine – which religion actually works.
And I can think of no better forum for that than this current Supreme Court.
Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.
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Tune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.
