Letter: Government’s authority is from people, not God

Wednesday, March 16, 2005 | 9:16 a.m.

On March 2, during oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of displaying the Ten Commandments, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia said the Ten Commandments are "a symbol that the government derives its authority from God." It has always been my belief that the government derives its authority from the people.

Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy inferred that demands to remove from government property such displays as the Ten Commandments shows "hostility to religion." Perhaps there is a grain of truth in that. I become hostile when I'm told I lack moral fortitude simply because I'm non-Christian.

In Iraq we seek a secular government providing for a "separation of church and state." In this country the evangelicals want a sectarian government totally influenced by Christian doctrine. If defending the First Amendment's "establishment of religion" clause is a sign of hostility, so be it. Justice Kennedy notwithstanding, nothing in the U.S. Constitution affords any religion, Christianity included, any special protections.

I'm certain that people who disagree with me will quote from the Declaration of Independence. That document, however, doesn't allude to God. It refers to an individual's Creator. It allows for my Creator, nature, to also endow me with "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

The Constitution provides a government "of the people, by the people and for the people." Only with their consent can it govern. With all due respect to Justice Scalia, our government does not derive its authority from God.

TERRY E PEELE