I always felt that my hometown was a microcosm of the world. With that said, I would like to address this talk of separation of God and State.

I worry that the sins of the father are handed down to the sons and daughters; I worry that words don�t mean what they used to: words like principle, belief and right and wrong.

Whether you�re a party member or an Independent; whatever your race, ethnicity or sexual preference, all of us have a sense of the tenets of our faith. Christians -- those who proclaim their adherence to the words and suggestions of Christ may recall the Christ that spoke words of non-violence. (I�m speaking of the Jesus Christ pre-Constantine, and certainly pre-Augustine -- Augustine, who penned, The Just War, making God a partner in the crime of war. Modern-day sensibilities could re-title his text as, War, Positive Preemptive Thinking with Jesus� Blessing)

Before Constantine, no Christian parents would offer up their children for a war nor allow them to be sent off to kill or be killed, although they might pray the state would be successful in its endeavor. Since Constantine, Jesus not only condones war, but is expected to pick a side.

Before Christ became a product of the State; before Christ was usurped from Christianity, Christians were nonviolent. They did not and would not participate in government actions that tested their faith. No man no state, whether secular or theocratic, is given or receives in some fashion the moral authority over the rest of us.

Pointing the barrel of a gun at our heads, destroying all of our possessions, torturing us for a confession or information, or just because they can, should not be the standard bearer for moral authority; nor should the use of weapons of mass destruction that leaves the air, water and land tainted with radioactivity. (Radioactivity or depleted uranium ((DU)) that will eventually and lethally kill our soldiers and their families and our enemies and their offspring forevermore.)

The only moral authority We the People have given the State is defined by its social contract. That contract is the Constitution and The Bill of Rights. It exists only because we the people affirm its promise.

It�s been said the world has changed since 9-11. That�s true for our government is indiscernible. It�s unrecognizable. It no longer adheres to the principles of our founding papers. It no longer accepts The Bill of Rights as the law of the land. No longer does it recognize treaties, proclamations or conventions.

Our leader leads by fiat. No longer does congress proclaim its responsibility to be both check and balance. Signing statements have become the law of the land. We the people look for justice. We look towards the courts that used to represent mankind�s last resort against tyranny.

If we begin with God�s basic premise, Thou Shall Not Kill and continue with the rebellious and revolutionary teachings of Christ: Love one�s enemy; Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, one has to question if these teachings apply to modern times? Or are they quaint expressions?

Certainly, nowadays one risks being deemed an enemy combatant or accused of treason if they espouse such notions.

Today, Jesus would find Himself confined to a maximum security prison as a radical and His unpatriotic rantings of peace and non-violence censored. After all, He was a simple man. A man of principle: The Prince of Peace.

We knew how His story would end, even as children. We knew the State had to kill him; it was a given. Just like we knew in our hearts and minds what would befall Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

As we ponder our existence, question our reason and purpose in life, is it not the right to believe in nonviolence and the right to practice it? Is it not the responsibility of those who govern to adhere to the social contract that we all agreed upon? Or is it all for naught: null and void; is it all conjecture; is hope the false prophet in a dismal world of chaos?

We need a new vision. A new belief that is more inclusive -- so help us God.

� 2006 Philip J. Rappa