Constitutional scholar Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) blew aside Speaker Mike Johnson’s declare that the Bible comes earlier than the Constitution.
Raskin mentioned when requested about Johnson’s feedback on MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki:
Well, let’s begin with this, after we take our oath of workplace, we put our hand on the Bible and we swear to uphold the Constitution.
We don’t put our hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible. The Constitution is the governing doc of the nation. And, we after all have a multiplicity of faiths and folks can select their religion or no religion in any respect. And that’s what Jefferson and. Adams and Madison fought for with the American Revolution and the Declaration and the Constitution.
Video of Raskin:
I imply, the good breakthrough of the American Constitution was to insurgent towards centuries of non secular battle. The wars between the Catholics and the Protestants and Inquisition and Crusades and witchcraft trials and all of that. They mentioned, we wish to put authorities on a secular precept, which is No institution of faith, no non secular check for public workplace, and free train.
Everybody can worship precisely as she or he pleases. But I’ve acquired colleagues who rise up. One acquired up not way back and mentioned, The ethical downfall of America was in 1962 with Engel versus Vitale. the place the Supreme Court banned prayer within the public colleges. And I needed to remind him, no, the Supreme Court by no means banned prayer within the public colleges.
As lengthy as there are pop math quizzes, there will likely be prayer within the public colleges, proper? All the Supreme Court mentioned in Engel versus Vitali is that the federal government can’t compel you to hope in line with a script that the federal government writes. And that case was from. New York, the swimsuit was introduced by Catholic households saying that there was a Protestant prayer that was being imposed on everyone.
And after all, that’s the good argument or one of many nice arguments for the separation of church and state and no institution of faith. What occurs is one church will get management of the governmental course of after which imposes Its theological orthodoxy and self-discipline on everyone else. And that’s why it’s in place.
Raskin was appropriate, and Johnson’s perception that the Bible comes earlier than the Constitution is what makes him so harmful able of energy. Speaker Johnson doesn’t imagine in democracy. The nation was based resulting from non secular persecution. It is why there’s a separation of church and state.
The excellent news is that in a bit of greater than a 12 months, this can be very probably that Mike Johnson will return to obscurity, and Jamie Raskin will likely be main the House Oversight Committee.
Jason is the managing editor. He can also be a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work centered on public coverage, with a specialization in social reform actions.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
