By Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition

Washington, DC – A recent AP-Ipsos poll has found that America is still a deeply religious nation—in spite of efforts from the anti-Christian ACLU to strip us of our religious heritage.

The AP-Ipsos poll surveyed religious attitudes in the U.S., Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, South Korea, and Spain.

The pollsters found that nearly all U.S. respondents said that faith was important to them; only 2 percent said they do not believe in God. And, almost 40 percent said that religious leaders should try to sway policymakers. The poll also found that Republicans were more likely than Democrats to think that religious leaders have a role in shaping public policy issues. (This is changing somewhat, however, as the Democrats have recruited the leftist pastor Jim Wallis to try to teach them how to speak “religious” jargon to the public. It isn’t working very well.)

America, of course, was founded primarily by deeply religious individuals who viewed the God of the Bible as the author of life and of human rights. It was this belief in God and religious freedom that resulted in the writing of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The First Amendment expressly forbids the federal government from establishing a national church or prohibiting the free exercise of religious belief.

Yet, despite this clear meaning of the First Amendment, atheists within the ACLU and other anti-religious groups in the U.S., have used this amendment as a bludgeon to silence all religious expressions in the public square. Every public expression of faith is now considered a “violation of the separation of church and state.”

The ACLU has found willing allies in liberal activist judges who are only too willing to stifle religious faith under the guise of protecting the “wall of separation.”

Perhaps it is time for Congress to get serious about passage of the Constitution Restoration Act of 2005. This legislation will implement the constitutional right of Congress to restrict the kinds of cases that can be heard before federal judges. It will forbid federal courts, including the Supreme Court, from issuing rulings that involve God or the acknowledgment of God! Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Representative Robert Aderholt (R-AL) are key sponsors of this important bill.

This bill will also restrict the federal courts from citing foreign court rulings in their decisions—except for those based upon English common law. Judges who violate this can be impeached— as they should be.

Religious freedom is highly valued in the United States and it must be protected from the hands of atheist and liberal judges who view the Constitution as a “living document” whose meaning can be stretched and reinterpreted to fit the liberal social agenda.

Clearly, religious freedom is too important to be left in the hands of atheists and ACLU lawyers. Congress should act now on the Constitution Restoration Act of 2005.