In 1938 I enrolled in the small public Grammar School in Santa Monica.  It was named after FDR and was a pretty good school; at least to me.  We lived 5 blocks from the beach and school was just 2 blocks from our home.  I loved it! 

We went through WW2, rolling bandages, learning all the names of the islands in the Pacific as this community was on the Pacific Ocean just west of Los Angeles.  We eventually learned to read the globe and could locate Germany, Italy, France, and England by sight as these were where our boys were being sent.  When we located Japan, we were shocked that such a little place wanted to take over America. 

We began to see new immigrants coming into our community and listened to their stories about what life was like in whatever country they had fled.  They came to America for our freedoms; the main one being that we were a Secular Nation that would accept all freedom-loving people no matter from where or what religious sect they belonged.   It was Freedom in Action and I took a personal interest in what this meant.

I heard the term “Secular Nation” for the first time in the 40s and thought that sounded very good!  America was the all-inclusive nation for all people.  Of course we won the war; we were the best nation in the whole world!

Did my Grandfather and my teachers deliberately lie to me or was America a Secular Nation at that time?  Sure I learned that many of the founders were Christians but they had agreed to allow America to grow independent from any Christian doctrines.  Were the books that I read on these founding fathers all a lie? 

I realize our country has grown and many of the original freedoms have been expanded to allow women and then African Americans to vote and own property.  These were not religious movements but allowed all Americans to share the same liberties and it was long over due and welcomed by most of the Americans, at least in the north and west. 

My education in American history also enforced the Separation of Church and State and kept an even balance on a growing tendency for Americans to look to the Federal Government for guidance in their own lives.  I heard the term in my classrooms, read it in the newspapers and certainly found it valid and strong on the television/cable news programs.  Even as late as the 1990s my working for the YMCA forbids the use of our facility for political reasons.  It also meant that our churches could not be used for political campaigns.  In 2000 it all changed! 

My question is who changed it and why?

Could it be that our politicians needed to bring in a group of Americans who have never been particularly involved in elections?  Secularists and Religious Americans have lived side by side for over 200 years with the famous “keep religion and politics as personal subjects” to keep peace in our neighborhoods.  The Sunday school I attended, taught us about Jesus not who to vote for.  I became as familiar with the map of the Palestine/Canaan area as I was with the map of California; certainly without Congressional districts indicated. 

Was it the Faith-Based Grants that brought the Christians out of their “Separation” mode and got them to vote for a man who claimed to be ordained by God to lead the country?  It seemed as if this bloomed over night but in looking back through the years of Nixon, Carter and even Reagan, we see that this is a very old group of activists.  For years they showed no interest in politics but something triggered the movement.

In my observations, it was President Clinton who exposed his own promiscuity to the whole world.  He was certainly not the first President who was committing adultery but he did it openly and aggressively showing America that the hypocrisy of leadership and abuse of political power is a strong medicine we must all swallow as part of American freedoms.  It didn’t bother me as I was not the one who was screwing around on my spouse.  We had been looking the other way during the Kennedy years and it had nothing whatsoever to do with any of us.  Didn’t we all learn that our morals are directed by our personal thoughts and actions? 

Somehow the religious right began expounding on the American Morals.  What the hell is that all about?  Are we not a country made up of individuals?  Do we all stand in line to see how others behave or do we stand tall and do what we know is right? 

Note:  remember I am over the age of 70 and that is how we were taught.

Are we now so weak that we can’t stand on our individual codes of ethics?  I have serious doubts whether even the religious right is training their own kids to develop a good honest set of morals and live by them.  I heard men like Falwell, Robertson, Swaggart, Bakker and Weyrich screaming that America is turning into a nation of infidels!!   What?

It was obvious that we could only be saved by a massive Federal movement to prohibit anything they considered sinful, immoral, or unhealthy, the campaign speeches in 2000 called them all out.  I sat in front of my television listening to Keyes pontificate on gambling, prostitution, drinking, drugs, homosexuals, smoking and the list was endless.  I heard Bauer pontificating about bringing the bible into the public schools forcing Christianity down the throats of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.  The religious right became a political movement!  Secularism was called the movement of Satan.  Mob rule had taken over America and George Bush was elected twice!

Do I stand alone reacting to this horrible situation?  Apparently I do!  Starting with the Schaivo mess have we forced the Federal Government to rewrite the Constitution again this time banning any individual desire to live as we want and die only by Federal mandate? 

In my study of American history, I read that people who found it uncomfortable to live in many cultures simply moved further west.  A good example of this is with the Latter Day Saints who moved to their own area and formed the center of their church/temple. They did not migrate without being targeted by many Christians along the way; hundreds were killed in their desire for freedom.   Are the Secularists facing the same targets at this time?  My question is where can we go to escape the intrusive actions of the Religious Right?  We will have to develop a new area where we can live as individuals without fear that the government will find a way to add a tax on our Secular selves.  I deeply resent  having to fund the churches who are only a division of the Republican Party.  I would like to opt out of that expense on my taxes and in fact since I have never used a government school, taken out a government loan and have generally ignored the federal government for most of my life I would like to stop paying taxes on anything other than what is found in the U.S. Constitution.

Unless my government represents me, why should I be forced into paying for anything?  Does my government protect the borders of the USA?  Not in Arizona.  We are 300 plus miles of totally open borders and the farms and ranches along the border are in constant jeopardy.  Our own police have their hands tied to protect us.  The list is too long to go on here and I would be better off moving away from any city that relies on Federal money or forced to live by Federal mandates.

The American people have spoken and they want a Christian nation and we Secularists had better conform or leave the country.  Many of us who have read the history of the Inquisition can see where this will lead and we shudder.  There’s no place else to go and our best bet will be to get off away from the city, build ourselves tall fences with guard dogs and simply survive until we die out.  If this sounds like Ruby Ridge then so be it.  I fully expect the Feds to break in singing “Onward Christian Soldiers” and take us all out.  That sure eliminates the fear of being fed through a tube in our bellies, doesn’t it?

Can anyone respect my disillusionment in how I see the new Christian America?  Will the mob rule the nation?  Will the morals of these people actually be allowed to be legislated?  Is there no mention of individuality in the Ten Commandments or in the bible anywhere?  Will this lead to removing the freedoms and liberties from all Americans like we see it in the Middle East?  Do we need a religious civil war here in America to stop all this nonsense?   Count me out; I’m too old.