The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

God, rights and government

So why can't you post the 10 Commandments in a United States Courthouse? For one, you can't hang up signs that say things like "thou shalt not steal, lie, commit adultery" in a building filled with judges, lawyers, and cops. It creates a hostile work environment.

But with all seriousness, the separation of church and state is a necessary rule that we must adhere to for our delicate government to survive. This includes instilling laws that infringe on our certain rights that are "endowed by the creator" as it says in the Declaration of Independence. And although the Declaration is not a constitutional document, thereby not legally binding, it is still the foundational concept of the law of the land, the United States Constitution. My point, however, is not embedded in the riffs of right interpretation, but merely in the interpretation of the origin of our rights.

"Endowed by the Creator" is an extraordinary concept of what and how valuable our basic rights as humans are and should be. Think about it: you have God-given rights even if you don't believe in God.

Nonetheless those who argue valiantly and with good cause for more separation between church and state, believe that the principle of "Rights endowed by the creator' is still a step too far in closing the gap between religion and government and forcing Americans to believe in God.

The founding fathers wholeheartedly believed in the separation of church and state, the "Creator"' was only a metaphor used in order to prove that there is a higher entity than the government and humanity. And in an exercise in futility, "Creator" was used instead of God sequentially for an omnipotent being to be ambiguous so that it wouldn't be an allusion to any specific religion. Futile, however the point was made.

You cannot substitute "Creator" with any other word because we, Americans, would lose that which protects our rights. Not God, but the idea of God. The idea that our rights come from something greater than the government, so therefore the government does not have the power to take them away. You could use another word with the same meaning, American soul power, Allah, Jehovah, although to specific, their synoptic meanings carry the same weight. In the end it really doesn't matter, as long as there is something that grounds the foundation stating that there is an entity larger than the government that protects our basic rights from the government. As long as we, Americans, keep that concept fresh in our national actions, our rights shouldn't be trampled by our own Uncle Sam.

Although we may not all believe in God or a Creator, we still believe that we have basic rights that no one can take away. Its simple, really, the belief in something higher than ourselves will protect us from ourselves. Whether that be a belief in duty, God, honor, truth, etcetera.

Also, a side note. Those who would trade freedom for security deserve neither. Patriot Act. Give it some thought. One Love.

George is a junior in political science and journalism. Stop! I've Got a Refined Thought appears every Tuesday. These views do not necessarily reflect those of the DAILY EGYPTIAN.

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