Good Evening Ribit,
When I was a kid my hero was Mickey Mantle.
Since then it's been Thomas Jefferson.
I have, as you read the Constitution a few hundred times.
Having a Pope address the Congress in no way violates anything written or implied by the Constitution.
Separation of Church and State has nothing whatever to do with a Papal visit.
Listen to Tom Jefferson
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his god, [the people, in the 1st Amendment,] declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.
... no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities."
Both Houses of Congress begin their daily sessions with a prayer by a Chaplain.
I am not a Catholic, nor am I a Christian. I am a Democrat.
Any human being speaking of Peace and freedom and human dignity should be welcomed by the Congress.
I suspect that 535 Congressmen will afford him the welcome he is entitled to.
Not because such a large part of our population is Roman Catholic. Not because the government might have a nefarious scheme to Christianize us all.
Humanity is governed by the adroit use of symbols, or from the barrel of a gun.
Sit back and relax.
In a short while you will see the Pope walk the Stations of the Cross in Jerusalem. Surely he can drive down Pennsylvania Avenue without scaring all the heathens in America.
I look forward to his speech because I suspect the Pope might be planning to give a lecture on America's place in the world and the expectations humanity has imposed upon our Congress.
| 