Andi Cook

Cook's Brew

American society is becoming increasingly polarized. A deep chasm grows with citizens facing off over religion, education, culture and constitutional issues. All of the bridges spanning the gulf are ablaze. A war is being fought on myriad fronts.

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The schism can be traced at least to the early 1960's. In 1962 the United States Supreme Court in Engle v. Vitale restricted prayer in the public schools. The following year, the court heard two cases where parents were opposed to their children being forced to either pray and listen to Bible readings, or sit in the hall until prayers and devotions were over. The courts decision removed teacher-led prayer and devotions from the schools. Today challenges are made, claiming even voluntary student-led prayers are unconstitutional.

The breach caused by the school prayer debate was widened a decade later when the Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion. The pro-life and pro-choice debate has raged ever since. The nation's high court upheld abortion, framing the issue as one of women's rights and declaring abortion protected under the 14th Amendment as the right to privacy. In the 21st century with the availability of 3-D sonograms and other technology to show life in the womb, the rights of the unborn child are receiving increasing exposure.

The societal split continues as the two sides fight over sex education in the schools. While both sides are for sex education, the content of such courses is an ongoing battle. The religious right advocates "abstinence" education, while the opposition promotes "safe sex" programs. Both sides quote statistics indicating that their program works to reduce teenage pregnancy.

The latest contribution to the growing gulf is the question of gay marriage. While all 11 state constitutional amendments defining marriage as between a man and a woman were passed in the November election, this is only the beginning of the skirmish. President Bush supports a federal marriage amendment, but a strong lobby opposes such an action. The gay/lesbian agenda promotes acceptance of the lifestyle under the banners of diversity and tolerance, but they hold the intolerant position of demanding that all opposition to their lifestyle to be banned, including that based on religion or ideology.

The gulf has expanded in the last few years as the courts have battled over public displays that support religion. Displays of the Ten Commandments and nativity scenes have come under attack when they grace public spaces. Federal courts have ordered the commandments taken down in government halls. Nativity scenes have been removed from some courthouse lawns. Children have been told not to include religious Christmas carols in school concerts and the Christmas story has been challenged as inappropriate in public school programs. The debate now includes the language of the pledge of allegiance, with the phrase "under God" being attacked as a governmental endorsement of religion. Others are challenging the words that grace all American coins: "in God we trust."

The rift widens as the two sides battle over speech. For many years, the First Amendment of the constitution was deemed protection for almost any form of speech, no matter how abhorrent. Then in the 1980s, the understanding of speech took a sharp turn. A series of incidents on college campuses resulted in campus speech codes prohibiting certain kinds of abusive language. Politically correct speech was introduced.

In the last few years, the battle over speech has left the campuses as legislative action is considered that is designed to restrict such speech in society at large. While conservatives dislike hate speech, they have found themselves in the uncomfortable seat of favoring free speech when it may be unpalatable. They fear that speech restriction could lead to a ban on the reading of certain scriptures or censorship of sermon content.

The ACLU finds themselves in the awkward position of opposing certain types of free speech. Pornography is protected but the Ten Commandments are not. A Jesus is Lord over Franklinton sign is forbidden; yet the right of Nazi groups to publicly assemble and engage in hate speech is upheld. Evolutionary theory is taught but science must exclude the theory of intelligent design.

In our history, the right to free speech has meant the right to challenge others and even make them uncomfortable. We have had an inalienable right to be offended. If we censor offensive speech, we trample the very freedom which defines our country. As a nation we rejected government coercion on matters of faith, but we did not reject, until recently, the right for people of faith to influence government.

Our democracy has succeeded because we have allowed opposing ideologies to stand side by side and agree to disagree.

Tolerance has meant that we allow another to hold an opposing view without being subjected to rancor or censorship. We are in danger of toppling that carefully constructed suspension bridge of free dialogue and dumping the next generation into the abyss.

Andi Cook can be contacted at andicook@bellsouth.net.