First, if have never read the first amendment, why not? Our founding fathers believed it to be the most important list of rights ever written. It is short, but powerful.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The first 16 words define what ‘freedom of religion’ means. All Americans have the right to practice the religion of their choice or none at all. They also forbid a single religion’s priority over another. The right not to practice any religion is also implied.

Mike Pence is a fake-Christian, and the leader of all homophobes in America. No man or woman can be a Christian and deny the teachings of Jesus Christ. His fear of the LGBTQ community is almost laughable.

Pence is violating the Constitution. A Christian Bible was placed on display in a New Hampshire Veterans Hospital. A civil rights group sued to have it removed claiming it was a violation of the first amendment.

“VA hospitals will not be religion-free zones.”

He added: “We will always respect the freedom of religion of every veteran of every faith,” Pence said in a speech addressing the American Legion National Convention in Indianapolis on Wednesday. “And my message to the New Hampshire VA hospital is this: ‘The Bible stays.'”

I am required to give a civics and legal lesson to our bigoted, and illegitimate vice-president. If he wants the Bible to remain, copies of the Tora, the Quran, and other religious faiths must be placed there as well. That’s what the first amendment guarantees and requires.

Also Mr. Pence, our military is comprised of men and women who practice faiths other than the fairytale religion of Mike Pence. And, by the way, some of our soldiers are atheists; can you imagine that?

The Christian religious right is anti-American. They control the entire Republican Party, and issues which should not be included in our politics are now at the top of the list. Every day GOP politicians violate the first amendment by attempting to establish Christianity as the ‘one true religion.’ Time for this to end, and time for churches to start paying federal tax for the billions they receive from their followers each year.

Religion, any religion, must be removed from our political system.

Tell everyone, “the truth lives here.

Op-ed by James Turnage

SOURCE

Image courtesy of DonkeyHotey

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