Editorial: NASA blasts off on First Amendment

Every once in awhile (or far too often), there comes yet another case of constitutional craziness.

This one is out-of-this-world, pun intended.

On www.foxnews.com Monday, Todd Starnes details how the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (better known as NASA), just banned (more or less) the name "Jesus."

It seems NASA attorneys (who knew NASA had or needed its own attorneys, but I guess we should not be surprised in this litigious day and age), directed a praise and worship club to cease and desist from using "Jesus" in announcements in a Johnson Space Center newsletter.

And as predicted, NASA is evidently concerned about the U.S. Constitution. From the aforementioned article: "NASA's legal department explained that including the name 'Jesus' within the club's announcement made that announcement 'sectarian' or 'denominational.' They also alleged such announcements would cause NASA to violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution."

We can put a man on the moon, but we still can't grasp the meaning - if not intention - of the First Amendment.

How in the world do these words - "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ..." justify NASA ordering a praise and worship club to stop using "Jesus" in a NASA-related newsletter?

Those who think the First Amendment and/or the "separation of church and state" (a phrase not in the U.S. Constitution, if that matters) supports the removal of each and every religious reference from the public domain (although it seems Christianity is usually the targeted religion) are either ignorant of the U.S. Constitution or have an agenda.

The phrase "In God We Trust" has been on U.S. currency since 1864. Using the constitutional logic displayed by NASA (and others), the U.S. Treasury has been violating the U.S. Constitution for almost 150 years.

The Declaration of Independence contains the following: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This reference to a "Creator" is obviously religious, so the Declaration of Independence is unconstitutional.

(Need we note the sarcasm in these two examples?)

It is pure and simple. The First Amendment is meant to keep the federal government from mandating a religion - the kind of persecution and oppression that led many to risk their lives for freedom.

Instead, many are of the mistaken belief that the First Amendment is meant to remove all public displays of religion. And NASA has provided yet another example.