Local View: Trump, religion and government don’t mix.
Fifty-seven years ago, my father, Jerry Bornstein, a local attorney, represented 39 families who wanted the Orange County School Board to halt the distribution of Gideon Bibles on public-school campuses. While the plaintiffs came from a variety of backgrounds and religions, they all believed in the importance of the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights, which begins with the line, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
This has been interpreted time and again to mean that there must be a complete separation of church and state so that no one feels that any religion takes precedence (or is persecuted) by the government. My father and these 39 families knew that, while the majority of our nation is Christian, Christianity is not the official religion of the United States. We are a nation whose range of beliefs runs the gamut from the atheist to the devout, with representatives of every faith on Earth, none exalted above or suppressed beneath any other.
He won the case in the Federal District Court of Appeals. After the School Board appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, he argued before the court and won a final ruling against the Bible-distribution practice in 1970.
Now, our new president is undermining one of the most sacred and important tenets of our democratic faith system — our system that believes in the equality of all.
First his administration imposed an immigration ban on Muslim-majority countries, though a federal court now is blocking that action. While the espoused purpose of this executive order was to review immigration “vetting” and curtail domestic terrorism, let’s be honest about a few basics. One: Nationals from the seven countries President Trump named have killed zero people in terrorist acts since 9-11. Two: Of the 19 terrorists in the 9-11 attacks, one was from Egypt, one from Lebanon, two from the United Arab Emirates, and 15 from Saudi Arabia. None of these countries was singled out by Trump. Three: Throughout his candidacy he called for a ban or “extreme vetting” of Muslims entering our country. You have to ask yourself: Is this a ban to stop terrorists, or something else?
Second, at the national prayer breakfast Trump attended last week, he once again vowed to “destroy” the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits nonprofit organizations from using their bully pulpits to promote a political candidate or party. The reason for this law is inherently reasonable: It keeps highly influential, faith-based leaders from directing their flocks to support or oppose people running for office. It maintains a separation between the power of the church and the power of the state.
We are not a Christian country, though we are a country where there is a large majority of Christians. We are an inclusive country. When religion and government intertwine, the foundation of our great nation becomes shaky. Safety for all follows one path only — keeping religion out of government, and government out of religion.