Editorial: Preserving our religious rights

Even with this sweeping guarantee, some social conservatives were able to get a vote in the House last week on a constitutional amendment that claimed to guarantee the right of religious expression on public property. The House voted 224-203 in favor of the measure, but it failed because a two-thirds majority of members voting is necessary to approve a constitutional amendment.

Both of Nevada's representatives in the House, Republicans John Ensign and Jim Gibbons, voted in favor of the constitutional amendment. Even though in 1996 Ensign said a constitutional amendment was unnecessary, he said last week that the measure was needed because some court decisions have had the effect of prohibiting students from voicing their religious beliefs, including stopping public high school valedictorians from invoking God's name in their graduation speeches.

Fortunately, level heads in the House helped defeat this unnecessary constitutional amendment. "Right now children can pray before, during and after school," Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, said. "There are 10,000 prayer clubs in public schools across the country. Prayer is alive and well in America and in America's public schools." Another legitimate concern was an objection to a provision that could have led to government funding of religious institutions and schools. In addition, a number of religious denominations actively opposed the measure, including Catholics, Jews, Presbyterians, Seventh-day Adventists and Muslims, according to the New York Times. They believed it was unnecessary and could force religious minorities to conform with the majority.

The Founding Fathers took great pains to make sure that religious rights were preserved while at the same time maintaining the separation of church and state. Political grandstanding, especially during an election year, is to be expected. But fooling around with the Constitution is wholly unacceptable, especially when it comes to tinkering with one of this nation's most sacred constitutional protections: religious freedom.

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