Government and church don’t mix

By Earle Malkin, Las Vegas

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Most people have heard of the Bill of Rights and know that it is the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. Most of those don’t know the particulars of each amendment, but the amendments are familiar. Who doesn’t know what “taking the Fifth” means?

These days, there has been an emphasis on the Second and First amendments. Lately, it has been reported that the original rationale for the Second Amendment, the maintenance of a well regulated militia, is no longer valid. States don’t need armed troops to prevent a slave rebellion or similar. Today, I believe that a state militia is the totality of law enforcement persons and the nonfederalized National Guard.

Most people can recite the basic four freedoms found in the First Amendment; free speech, right of assembly, press and religion. We realize that these can be adjusted to protect the public. For example, one cannot arbitrarily cry, “Fire!” in a crowded theater. The right of assembly is restricted to peaceful endeavors. A free press is not restricted to the truth, as has been shown in the past two years.

As to freedom of religion, this is the right for anyone to follow his or her faith and be cognizant of the religious rights of others. We have seen attempts to impose certain beliefs, supposedly derived from a religious faith, on those of other religions. The amendment prohibits governmental activity to violate that freedom; however, we now have attempts to remove or restrict individual rights based on a religious belief. I believe that not only do we need freedom to practice our own religions and faiths, we need freedom from religion in government. That should be an integral part of the interpretation of the First Amendment. I don’t expect it to happen in the near future.