Editor’s note: The below was written in response to a Feb. 16 guest column, “The speech I gave at the Jan. 12 WPSD school board meeting,”

The claim that the founders of the United States of America “turned to God” to solve a dilemma about government being “inherently evil” is simply NOT true. NOWHERE in the Constitution can be found an appeal to God. In Article VI is the only reference to religion whatsoever in the Constitution: “… no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” And in Amendment I it states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …”

The wise and exceptionally well-read Founders fully understood all the serious problems of nation states who adopted a state religion, most especially one ruled and enforced by a king, and wanted nothing to do with anything approaching that in the Constitution establishing the government of the U.S. Even the oath of office for the president of the U.S. stated in the Constitution has no mention of God, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The phrase “against all enemies foreign and domestic” was not added until 1861 — for the obvious reason of the insurrection that led to the Civil War. Notice there is no phrase of “So help me God” in the oath. That phrase was added by Abraham Lincoln to the oath at his 1865 inauguration, but it is not in the Constitution, nor required by law or regulation to be said by anyone.

It is also NOT true that “government judges … threw God out of our schools.” Surely the God of biblical perspective is not so weak as to be able to be thrown out of anywhere. And since the only biblical definition of God is “God is love” then such divine love expressed in the schools by any person within them means God is there.

It is also true that any student, teacher, staff person or administrator can pray in any school as long as it is not a publicly led prayer of any particular religion or faith. Praying privately is not prohibited by any law anywhere, including public schools, and for Christians, Jesus taught them to pray in private. The Supreme Court was simply seeking to continue the separation of church and state by not allowing any law that in effect establishes a religion — which is precisely what the Constitution requires — when they ruled about prayer in schools. Earl Warren was a devout Methodist who taught Sunday School and had no intention whatsoever to prohibit prayer.

It is irrational and unreasonable to claim that our government and schools “worship at the altar of socialism … led by so-called atheists.” There is no provable evidence for this ludicrous claim whatsoever. There is no religion of socialism. This is a capitalist economy supported by all kinds of government laws to protect that, even though that capitalism often harms individuals and groups of persons.

While there was no specific “bedrock Christian principles” mentioned on which it was claimed “America was built on,” let me suggest a few on which responsible actions could be based from five teachings of Jesus, who is supposed to be the teacher on which Christians base all their actions to, with, for and on behalf of others:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

In everything do for others as you want them to do for you; for this is the law and the prophets.

Give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcome to the stranger, clothes to those without, care to the sick, visits to those in jail.

Love your enemies.

There must be no limits to your goodness, your love, just as there is no limit to the goodness and love of God.

All of this means that no one religion will be acceptable as the only one on which education is based, because every persons perspective of any religion or faith, or none at all, will be respected, which is precisely the law of the land based on the Constitution. Jesus praised the Samaritan who was considered a heretic person of wrong religion in that day. Jesus praised the faith of a Roman Centurion, a despised person by all of the acceptable faith, and considered having no faith worth being praised in that day. Public education was never meant to be based on any one religion — that’s what private schools are for.

So the appeal for those labeled “opponents” of the school board to “make the needed changes to our county and our country’s educational system” is based on a false claim and premise, which means that it is not an appeal into which each side can enter equally and with the assurance that each side will have their perspectives and understanding of the best approach to the educational system that will best educate the students in the Woodland Park school district respected and honored.

Rodney Noel Saunders is a retired United Methodist pastor. He resides in Florissant.

Rodney Noel Saunders