Mr. Ray Shelton reminds us that "honesty is a virtue" in his letter to
the editor commending the News-Press for writing about Easter as a
secular celebration. In the spirit of honesty, I would like to fill in a
few of the "facts" that Mr. Shelton provides.
Mr. Shelton is correct in explaining that Easter was a pagan
celebration of Saxon origin. What he fails to mention is that the word
Easter used in the New Testament is the Greek translation for the Hebrew
word Passover. Clearly, the biblical events of the last days of Jesus'
life were centered around the Jewish Passover celebration.
As Christianity spread to pagan cultures, it was not unusual to
incorporate pagan traditions with Christian celebrations in order to make
the Christian message more relevant to the culture. However, to describe
the historical Easter holiday without recognizing that the resurrection
of Jesus serves as the ultimate symbol of hope for new life is dishonest
and incomplete.
Mr. Shelton also instructs us that our country was "founded upon the
separation of church and state." I would remind Mr. Shelton that the
phrase "separation of church and state" is not included in any of the
founding documents of our country, including the Declaration of
Independence, the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. In fact, the phrase
"maintaining a wall of separation between the church and State"
originated in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to a Christian college
president. The purpose of the principle was to prevent state intrusion
into the church, not the church influence on the state. To state that
this was a founding principle of a country created for free religious
expression is dishonest.
Mr. Shelton stated that "America was built on the triumph of the Age
of Reason." He implies that faith or spirituality had no place in the
thinking of the founding fathers. However, an honest evaluation of the
predominant world view of the time would include the emerging idea of
Natural Law, that God endowed all people with inalienable rights to
self-determination. This strong belief, among Christian and Deists,
provided the moral and intellectual motivation that led to the American
revolution. To deny that faith and religion did not have a foundational
influence on this revolution is also dishonest.
Let's be honest: Mr. Shelton's faith in only verifiable reason and
information is a good example of how a little bit of knowledge can be
dangerous.
BOB DRUMMOND
Glendale
