PARTICIPATE IN AN ACT OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP." WHAT NONSENSE!
           NONSENSE! SUCH A PRONOUNCEMENT IGNORES A SEPARATE FIRST
           AMENDMENT CLAUSE REFERRED TO AS THE FREE EXERCISE CLAUSE. THIS
           AMOUNTS TO THE SEN SENIOR SHIP OF RELIGIOUS SPEECH IN A
           GOVERNMENTAL FORUM. WHAT ABOUT THE RIGHTS OF THOSE STUDENTS WHO WISH TO PRAY?

           PERHAPS FOR THE SAFETY OF THEIR CLASSMATES?
           SUCH A RULING TRAMPLES ON THE CONSTITUTION AL RIGHTS OF THOSE
           STUDENTS IN FAVOR OF SOME MYTHICAL POSSIBILITY THAT COERCEMENT
           MIGHT BE FELT BY SOMEONE. CHECK IN A DISSENTING OPINION, CHIEF
           JUSTICE WILLIAM H. REHNQUIST SUFMD IT UP NICELY WHEN HE STATED

           THE MAJORITY OPINION BRISTLES -- BRISTLES WITH HO CONSTITUENT
           TO ALL THINGS RELIGIOUS -- HO CONSTITUENT TO ALL THINGS
           RELIGIOUS IN LIFE. HE SAID IT RIGHT. THE MAJORITY OPINION
           BRISTLES WITH HOSTILITY TO ALL THINGS RELIGIOUS IN PUBLIC LIFE.
           FOR THAT STATEMENT THE CHIEF JUSTICE WILL ALWAYS HAVE MY
           GRATITUDE. HE IS EMINENTLY CORRECT, AND OF COURSE IT TOOK SOME

           COURAGE FOR HIM TO STAY WHAT HE DID. CHECK ASS EVERYONE NOTION,
           I AM -- AS EVERY ONE KNOWS, I AM NO FAN OF AMENDING THE
           CONSTITUTION. AS EVERYONE IS IT SHOULD ONLY BE DONE WITH GREAT
           CARE. CERTAINLY THIS YEAR IS NO YEAR TO TRY TO PASS A
           CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON SCHOOL PRAYER. BUT I INTEND TO
           IMPLORE THE TWO MAJOR PARTY CANDIDATES, AND I DO NOW IMPLORE
           THE TWO MAJOR CANDIDATES TO SERIOUSLY CONSIDER INCLUDING A

           CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF CLARIFYING THE INTENT
           OF THE FRAMERS IN THE AREA OF PRAYER IN SCHOOL AS PART OF BOTH
           PARTY PLATFORMS. NOW, I HAVE YET TO READ A PARTY PLATFORM.
           NEVER READ IT. I HAVE NEVER READ A DEMOCRATIC PARTY PLATFORM OR
           ANY OTHER PARTY PLATFORM. BUT THERE ARE. WHO DO, AND IT IS ONLY
           NATURAL THAT THE PARTIES SHOULD HAVE PLATFORMS. PEOPLE EXPECT

           THEM TO HAVE PLATFORMS TO INDICATE WHERE THEY STAND ON THE
           GREAT ISSUES OF THE DAY AND SO I URGE MR. BUSH AND MR. GORE TO
           WORK TO PUT THE WORDS IN THE PARTY PLATFORMS. URGING THAT THE
           COURT AND THAT THERE BE AN AMENDMENT TO CLARIFY THE INTENT OF
           THE FRAMERS IN THE AREA OF PRAYER IN SCHOOLS. THE INTENT OF THE

           FRAMERS WAS CLEARLY ONLY TO KEEP THE NEW GOVERNMENT FROM
           ENDORSING OR FAVORING ONE RELIGION OVER ANOTHER. NOT FROM
           FAVORING HAS FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION OVER NONRELIGION.
           CERTAINLY IT WAS NEVER TO PROHIBIT VOLUNTARY EXPRESSIONS OF A
           RELIGIOUS NATURE BY OUR CITIZENS. JUST WHAT DO WE HAVE TEACH
           OUR CHILDREN?
           JUST DO WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN?

           UPON WHAT DO WE BASE THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL CODES OF SOCIETY IF
           WE ARE NOT TO BASE THEM ON MORAL PRECEPTS AND SPIRITUAL
           PRECEPTS?
           HOW CAN WE LEAD OUR OWN PEOPLE?
           HOW CAN WE GRAPPLE WITH ISSUES OF RIGHT AND WRONG?
           HOW CAN WE CONTINUE TO INSPIRE DOWNTRODDEN PEOPLES FROM AROUND
           THE GLOBE IF WE CONTINUE TO DENY AND TO SEVER OUR BASIC TIES TO
           FAITH-BASED PRINCIPLES AYE LEARMINGLY WE ARE CRAFTING A

           POLITICAL -- ALARMINGLY WE ARE CRAFTING A POLITICAL SITUATION
           THAT DOES NOT REFLECT THE PRACTICES OF MOST AMERICANS. THE
           OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF AMERICANS.
           
           CONSIDER THESE FACTS: NINE AMERICANS IN TEN SAY THEY HAVE NEVER
           DOUBTED THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. EIGHT AMERICANS IN TEN SAY THEY
           BELIEVE THEY WILL BE CALLED BEFORE GOD ON JUDGMENT DAY TO

           ANSWER FOR THEIR ACTIONS, THEIR WORDS. THEIR DEEDS. EIGHT
           AMERICANS IN TEN BELIEVE GOD STILL WORKS MIRACLES, AND HE DOES.
           THERE SITS ONE RIGHT OVER THERE THE IF CHAIR. HERE SITS SOME UP
           HERE. THESE ARE MIRACLES. THERE ARE LITERALLY MILLIONS OF
           THINGS THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO EACH OF US AND WE WOULD

           NEVER HAVE BEEN BORN, OR BEING BORN WE WOULD HAVE BEEN
           CONFRONTED WITH MANY HEALTH PROBLEMS. MIRACLES, EVERY DAY.
           SEVEN AMERICANS IN TEN BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER DEATH. I DO. I
           DARE SAY MOST IF NOT ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS CHAMBER DO
           BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A LIFE AFTER DEATH. WHAT WOULD THERE BE

           TO LIVE FOR, OTHERWISE?
           YOU MAY LAUGH NOW, BUT WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE WILL IT AS I AM BE
           WELL ON YOUR WAY TO WILL IN. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOOK FORWARD
           TO?
           TO WHAT DO YOU LOOK FORWARD EACH DAY OF YOUR LIFE?

           WHICH IS FAST EBING. YES, YOU WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND THEN OF THE
           HOW REQUEST THE BELIEFS OF SUCH SIZEABLE MARTS OF THE AMERICAN
           POPULATION TOTALLY ESCAPE THE ATTENTION OF POLITICIANS,
           EDUCATORS?
           THEY ARE ALL GOING TO DIE TOO. EVERY ONE OF THEM. AND THEY ARE
           GOING TO HAVE TO GO OUT AND MEET GOD IN ETERNITY, WHICH IS A

           LONG, LONG, LONG TIME. HOW CAN THESE STATISTICS CAPE THE
           SUPREME COURT OF THE YAUTS?
           DOES THE ANSWER LIE IN THE ELY TIM THAT SO PERMEATES THIS
           ARROGANT CAPITAL CITY?
           DOES THEOLOGY TEND TO THIN OUT AS ONE GRAVITATES TOWARD THE TOP
           OF THE SOCIOECONOMIC SCALE RATHER LIKE THIN AIR AT THE TOP OF
           SOME ELEVATED PEAK?
           ARE WE INCEDE WITNESSING THE WRITING OF A NEW TALE OF TWO

           CITIES AS WE WATCH PUBLIC POLICY DIVERGE EVER MORE DRAMATICALLY
           OF FROM THE VIEWS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE PLAIN AS DAY RECORD OF
           OUR OWN DOCUMENTED HISTORY?
           POWER UNCHECKED BY MORAL INSIGHT, TEACHING UNTEMPERED BY
           SPIRITUAL VALUES, GOVERNMENT UNENLIGHTENED BY FAITH IN A CREATE
           OR 0 E. -- CREATOR -- NO CITY, NO NATION, CAN SUSTAIN SUCH A

           COURSE. WHILE WE MAY DISTRACT OURSELVES NOR A TIME WITH THE A
           INFLUENCE THAT A BOOMING ECONOMY PROVIDES, EVENTUALLY THERE IS
           A KIND OF A NIGHALISM IN A SOCIETY WHOSE ONLY GOD IS
           MATERIALISM. WHOSE ONLY GOD IS MATERIALISM. LOOK CAREFULLY
           AROUND YOU AT THE CULTURE OF AMERICA TODAY. JUST STOP AND THINK

           NOR A MOMENT. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO LOOK AROUND YOU. STOP AND
           THINK AT THE MOMENT OF THE CULTURE OF THIS COUNTRY TODAY.
           NOVEMBER THE BENALITY OF MOST PUBLIC DISCOURSE. THE LACK OF
           RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY. THE ABSENCE OF COMMON CIVILITY. THE
           CRUDENESS OF POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT. THE GLOWER IF I INDICATION
           OF VIOLENCE -- GLORY IF I INDICATION OF VIOLENCE. THERE IS NO

           MAP. THERE IS NO COMPASS. THERE IS NO VISION. AND WHERE THERE
           IS NO VISION, THE PEOPLE PARISH. MR. PRESIDENT, THE VERY FIRST
           SENTENCE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
           UNITED STATES -- HERE IS THE CONSTITUTION -- SO SMALL THAT IT
           FITS INTO A SHIRT POCKET -- THE VERY FIRST SENTENCE OF THE
           FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES READS
           AS
           

           FOLLOWS: "CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN
           ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE
           THEREOF." IT SEEMS TO ME THE U.S. SUPREME COURT OVER THE YEARS
           IN ITS RULINGS ON SCHOOL PRAYER HAS BENT OVER BACKWARDS ENFORCE
           THE FIRST CLAUSE IN THAT AMENDMENT DEALING WITH AN
           ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, BUT THE COURT HAS SEEMINGLY

           EXHIBITED A STRONG BIAS AGAINST THE EQUALLY IMPORTANT -- THE
           EQUALLIMPORTANT -- SECOND PART OF THE SENTENCE. THAT SENTENCE
           HAS TWO EQUAL PARTS. AND THAT SECOND PART, I QUOTE. ." OR
           PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF." IN RULING AFTER RULING
           OVER THE PAST 40 YEARS THE COURT SEEMS TO BE GOING FARTHER AND

           FARTHER AND FARTHER IN THE DIRECTION OF PROHIBITING THE FREE
           EXERCISE OF RELIGION. IN PRECEDENT AFTER PRECEDENT, THE COURT
           OFTEN BY SPLIM MAJORITIES HAS SEEMED BENT UPON -- SLIM
           MAJORITIES, HAS SEEMED BENT ON ERADICATING ANY SEMBLANCE
           WHATSOEVER OF RELIGIOUS SPEECH IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, EVEN WHEN
           SUCH SPEECH IS NOT IN ANY TWAI, SHAPE OR FORM CONNECTED WITH AN
           ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION. WHEN I READ THE FIRST AMENDMENT

           CLAUSE DEALING WITH FREEDOM OF RELIGION, THE WORDS OF THE
           AMENDMENT SEEM TO STRIKE A BALANCE BETWEEN AN ESTABLISHMENT OF
           RELIGION ON THE ONE HAND AND THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION ON
           THE OTHER. BUT THE COURT SEEMS DETERMINE TO E. DETERMINED
           IGNORE AND EE LIMB ANY RIGHT TO FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION IN
           THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. NO WONDER MANY PEOPLE TAKE THEIR CHILDREN

           OUT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. I BELIEVE THAT THE FRAMERS OF THE
           UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, THE FOUNDERS OF THE REPUBLIC
           ITSELF, WOULD BE APPALLED -- CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT THE FOUNDERS,
           THE FRAMERS, THE PEOPLE WHO FRAMED THE CONSTITUTION, THE PEOPLE
           WHO VOTED ON THE RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION -- HOW THEY
           WOULD FEEL?
           I BELIEVE THEY WOULD BE APPALLED AT THE COURT'S APPARENT DRIFT

           OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS TOWARD TOTAL SECULARISM AND AWAY FROM
           ANY MODICUM OF VOLUNTARY RRJ EXPRESSION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
           OF THIS COUNTRY. NOW, LET US BRIEFLY REFLECT UPON THE IMPACT OF
           RELIGION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM.
           LET'S GO BACK. LET'S GO BACK OVER THE DECADES. YAU EVEN OVER
           THE SEN HIS, AND REFLECT UPON THE IMPACT OF RELIGION ON THE

           DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM. WE WILL FIND THAT
           THE ROOTS OF RELIGION RUN DEEP. AS ONE SCHOLAR, DONALD S. LUTZ
           HAS NOTED, THIS IS WHAT HE SAYS, "THE POLITICAL COVENANTS
           WRITTEN BY ENGLISH COLONISTS IN AMERICA LEAD US TO THE CHURCH
           COVENANTS WRITTEN BY PROTESTANTS IN THE LATE 1500'S AND EARLY
           1600'S, AND THESE IN TURN LEAD US BACK TO THE COVENANT

           TRADITION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. THAT'S WHAT HE SAID. THE
           AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL TRADITION, MR. PRESIDENT, DERIVES IN
           MUCH OF ITS FORM AND CONTENT FROM THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN
           TRADITION. WE CAN'T AVOID IT. IT IS THERE. NOTHING CAN ERASE
           IT. YOU CAN TAKE ALL THE HISTORY BOOKS OUT OF THE SCHOOLS THAT
           YOU WANT. BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT IT
{END: 2000/07/17 TIME: 13-15 , Mon.  106TH SENATE, SECOND SESSION}