Book Review
The Godless Constitution:
The Case Against
Religious Correctness
Cookies • Cinnamon Rolls
• Muffins • Espresso •
Pizza by the Slice
by James D. Patton
W e might say that it’s a season of house calls lor
the ol’ Doc. The little cabin in the trees is being sold,
and when we first heard about it, our response was
to quit the day job. This might not make sense to
those unfamiliar with the local version of Musical
Houses, but a handful of local renters lose their
houses each summer when the real estate fishery
opens, and summer is when every available roof is
sheltering a summer worker, a participant in the
Haystack Program, or a v acationer.
One might live in a well-hidden tent and take out a
membership in the fitness club to use the shower, but
the prospect of lining up for the few houses that
become available for the rainy season (November
through June) isn’t nearly as attractive as prospecting
for a fresh perspective, and the most effective
prescription for Doc is to get his boots re-heeled, his
bow re-haird, and to hit the road and play a bunch ot
music.
A few months back, a pianist, a woman a
generation older than Doc, was talking about a
common response from friend and stranger alike: “It
must be wonderful to...” The pianist exclaimed,
“They don’t understand. You play because you have
to!”
Well, there’s a galaxy of reasons to play music,
and playing because you have to play doesn t
exclude any of the other reasons. It can take you
places and show you things you might not see in a
hundred lifetimes, and teach you things you don t
even have the words to express. Living without it is
like staying in shallow waters, and your very' sell
begins to fade. Perish the thought!
So Doc is off doing research and development.
Temporarily surrounded by bear, cougar, bobcat,
and Horowitz playing Liszt (we can take it), we’re
putting together the down payment on a Learjet and
preparing to go out in search of the groove.
After all, leaving home is far too important to be
left in the hands of children. Cheerio, amigos y
amigas, monitor this frequency tor lurther whistling.
Philip Thompson
•
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It is summer time, and the living is easy. Bill
Clinton is in office, and Bob Dole is on the campaign
trail Newt Gingnch and his boys are at the wheel ol
Congress, and the Christian Coalition is in the back
seat Many would like to make laws based on what
they think the Bible says, and an election is coming.
It seems like an appropriate time to take another
look at our Constitution and what the framers
actually had in mind; this is what the authors Isaac
Kramnick and R. Lawrence Moore have done in
relation to the question of church and state.
Kramnick is a professor of government at Cornell
University and Moore a professor of history at the
same institution. Their book, The Godless
Constitution, is not a comprehensive look at the
Constitution: rather, it is an attempt to answer
political activists such as Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson,
and Jerry Falwell who seem intent on making
religion, particularly the Christian re41igion, an
intregral part of the political process. A frequent
argument of such people for mixing church and state
is that this is what our founding fathers had in mind.
If readers are looking for background information
on specific articles or amendments to the
Constitution, reading The Godless Constitution will
not be of any direct help. However, I find this
limitation one of the book’s strengths. Kramnick
and Moore created a scholarly but readable book by
keeping a tight focus and presenting sufficient,
supporting evidence but not engaging in citation
overload.” (If you are not familiar with “citation
overload,” try reading a doctoral thesis sometime.)
The book does several things. After and
introductory chapter, Kamnick and Moore show that
the lack of mention of God or Christianity is the
Constitution was not an oversight on the part of the
signers but deliberate. For example, they note that
William Williams, a delegate to the convention,
proposed a change in the preamble that would have
specifically acknowledged “...one living and true
G od...” The authors also call attention to the heated
debate at the convention of the “no religious test”
clause and the fact that eleven of the thirteen new
states did have some form of test. Unlike the debate
over state’s rights versus federal powers, Kramnick
and Moore point out, few textbooks make serious
mention of the religious argument and that the
proponents of a secular Constitution prevailed.
The authors also examine the background that
caused this secular approach to be taken in writing
the Constitution. Here they look at two basic lines ol
reasoning. Ironically, the first is typified by Roger
Williams who founded the Massachusetts Bay
Colony and who can hardly be accused of lacking
religion. Williams believed that for any nation or
colony to claim that it had a divine contact w ith God
was blasphemy and served to harm religion. He
also argued that government was strictly tor the
secular world and should be concerned only with
secular laws. In his view, the worst thing about
mixing the two was that it corrupted religion.
Williams argued that it was for the sake of religion
that state and religion should be separated.
The second line of reasoning for a secular
constitution was that the mixing of the two often
manifest itself in religious tyranny. Kramnick and
Moore write that our ancestors were well aware of
the problems caused by early theocracies in the New
World and of the linking of church and state in
England. The founding fathers wished to keep
government simple and under control of the people.
Religion was, for them, a personal affair and not the
concern of government. In support of this position,
the authors clarify the context of the Iamous
Jefferson Quote, “I have sworn upon the alter ol
God eternal hostility against every form ol tyranny
over the mind of man.” It was written in reaction to
attacks against Jefferson by Philadelphia clergy and
their efforts to insert religion in government.
Kramnick and Moore write, ‘T o the eighteenth-
OREGON
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century liberal mind of a Thomas Jefferson, shaped
by English ideals, there were two great sources of
tyranny ...kings , such as mad George III, and
priest, such as the clergy of Philadelphia.”
In defending their position of an historically
secular Constitution, Kramnick and Moore make
their best argument for the prevailing thought ot its
signers through the voice of Jefferson who wrote in
Notes on the State of Virginia, ‘T he legitimate
pow ers of government extend to such acts only as
are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for
my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no
God. It neither breaks my leg, nor picks my
pocket.” This is the classic “Liberal” position toward
the role of the state.
The final portion of the book points out some of
the struggles we have historically had with the idea
of separation of church and state and how the
outcomes have not always been in compliance with
our Constitution but with political expediency and
religious correctness. They are well aware of
inconsistencies in politics and politicians. The
authors argue with those who claim we were
founded as a Christian nation and state, “It is not true
that the founders designed a Christian
commonwealth, which was then eroded by secular
humanists and liberals; the reverse is true. The
framers erected a godless federal constitutional
structure, which was then undermined as God
entered first the US currency in 1863, the federal
mail sen ice in 1912, and the Pledge of Allegiance in
1954.”
While The Godless Constitution is unlikely to
change the minds of those who have an image of our
founders as religious men in the tradition of Pat
Robertson, it is well worth the time reading. It is
clear in its intent, and provides researched support
for its conclusions. It packs a great deal of substance
into its 191 pages.
I would like to have seen the authors use end
notes, but this is a minor criticism which they
anticipated and answered in “A Note On Sources.
The “Note” pages provide sufficient bibliographic
information on the areas researched to allow readers
to check for accuracy and context.
While Kramnick and Moore will probably not rival
Steven King in reading popularity, their book is far
more instructive and at least as frightening as Cujo.
Kramnick, Isaac and R. Lawrence Moore
The Godless Constitution: the case against religious
correctness
W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.
New York, N.Y. 1996, 191 pages
c/cZc/6/5/c/c/c/c/c/c/e/c/i
SASQUATCHSERRCH
UNSUCCESSFUL
by our field correspondent
John Dag, Julg 17 [delayed] A fte r weeks of
fruitless searching, the American Association of
Scientists Seriously Seeking Sasquatch has called o ff
its eastern Oregon sasquatch search.
"We were looking all around the area [see ULE,
April 1996] where Professor Carberry photographed
a sasquatch during the summer of 1994," said Dr.
George Burns Jr., president of the AASSSS. "We had
people on the ground as well as several aloft in high
tech sailplanes. These silent snoopers were equipped
with the latest infa-red heat detectors which are so
sophisticated they can spot a snake or lizard on the
desert floor . . . and we did, but we didn t detect any
sasquatch.”
Burns went on to say that the 4-week search had
covered not only the area where Carberry s picture
had been taken but many square miles of adjacent
te r rito ry .
"We know these creatures can cover a lot of ground
in a day or two, so we checked out as much of the
surrounding area as we could. We found nothing. It s
discouraging but we remain optimistic that some day
someone will get the Ultimate Proof that sasquatch
e xist."
When I asked what the 'ultimate p ro of would have
to be, he sighed and said: "A body. While we have no
intention of ever shooting one, we cannot prevent
someone else from doing so. We would note that there
is no reward for shooting one and in some areas to
shoot one would be against the law. We hope to get
one that has died of natural cause -- even a skeleton
would be acceptable."
The AASSSS, Burns said, will now revert to a more
passive approach, interview ing those who claim
sasquatch sightings and trying to find a pattern in the
location of witness' observations. "We m ight," he
said,"given enough data, be able to predict when and
where a sasquatch might appear. It's a long-shot but
we think it's worth a try ." • • •
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