Bonnie Gasper, a resident of my congressional district, wrote a once-a-month column for the local paper (She has resigned.  She wrote her final column last week, and it's a doozy.  I'll see if I can find it for you).  She’s pretty radical, and she’s not long on research.  Here’s something she says in her column “The Myth of the Separation of Church and State”.

The process of undermining liberty started in 1947 when Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black (a former Ku Klux Klansman) redefined the First Amendment in Everson saying: “The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. The wall must be high and impregnable. We could not approve of the slightest breach.”

Black’s redefinition marked the beginning of a systematic elimination of anything “religious” (especially Christianity) from the public square.

Soon prayer, Bible-reading, the 10 commandments, religious topics, crosses and anything remotely connected to Christianity were banned from public schools and squares. (The city of Pittsburgh even renamed Christmas “Sparkle Season.”)

Unfortunately, those who wave the “separation of church and state” banner don’t realize they are attacking the very foundation upon which their liberty rests. It’s time people woke up and realized it before it’s too late.

I don’t know what public schools she is talking about when she said that anything remotely connected to Christianity is banned from public schools.

When I was in public schools in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, we were handed Gideon Bibles in our school every year.  Every year, men in suits came into our schools, took up class time, and talked to us about the Bible, and gave us Bibles in school.

As a child I was told stories about how it was my job to be persecuted for Christ in a hostile world.  I brought Bible tracts to school.  I proselytized to my fellow students every day.  I brought my Bible to school.  Never once was I sent home, or reprimanded or persecuted in anyway (well, once I was made to scrub Bible-verse graffiti off the walls, but I don’t think that counts).  I’m surprised as hell someone didn’t kick my ass for being such an egregious twit.  They should have.  They really should have.  I would have learned my lesson sooner, and it would have saved me a lot of time.

Three years ago, I attended Grasshopper’s first grade classroom, and listened to a teacher read a story about how a little Guatemalan girl discovered the “true meaning of Christmas” by attending a Catholic Mass.

Throughout their grade-school years, my children said the Pledge of Allegiance, which includes the words “under God”.

Around the country, schools send home flyers inviting kids to join the Boy Scouts, and the Cub Scouts.  Scouting meetings and events are held in school buildings.  The Scouts require their members to believe in God.

But you don’t just have to take MY word for it.  Here is a link to a column by none other than Kirk Cameron about how he spent the day witnessing to a public high school with the permission of the principle.

The crowd had a few great questions, which I did my best to answer, always trying to point them back to the Cross. When the lunch bell rang, about thirty kids came forward wanting Bibles and answers to more questions. Joey and I hung around for another hour talking and praying with seeking students. It was wonderful to see what God did that day with the principal's permission.

Indeed, the de facto situation is that the “wall of separation of church and State” is a myth.  I don’t think it’s that big of a deal either way, but it’s annoying that smug, ignorant, self-righteous bigots can give out bald-faced lies like this and then use those lies to beat the persecution drum over nothing.