I Mostly Agree with Justice Scalia

   I beg to differ only slightly on what Chief Justice Antonin Scalia said. He said God has been good to America exactly because we honor him. He said there is nothing wrong with invoking God in giving speeches. He said he was in Rome for a conference at the time of 9-11, and others at the conference complemented Pres. George W. Bush for invoking God's name and asking for his blessings. They told Scalia, they wished their countries were more the same.
   I agree. There is no wrong in invoking God's name, in offering public prayers, and in putting trust in God.
  Scalia also suggested the tradition that the state be neutral on religion is not found in the Constitution. I'm not sure what he meant by "neutral," that I should say whether I agree or disagree on that.
   But, he said this, "To be sure, you can't favor one denomination over another. -- But, can't favor religion over non-religion?" That implies religion can be put over non-religion.
   And, I disagree. We should not favor placing religion over non-religion any more than we should favor placing one denomination over another.
   Any leader should be able to invoke God, to pray to him. He should even be free to say his thoughts come from his Lutheran background, or Catholic background, or Muslim background, or Jewish background. And, if the leader knows no God? He should be free to say he knows no God, but wishes the best upon our nation.
   In their utterances, leaders should not be expected to cleanse out reference to God. That is not so much a matter of freedom of religion, as it is freedom of speech.
   In creating policies and laws, however, no one religion denomination should be favored above another or above those who believe in atheism. No law should be created that favors one religion above another. If there were a law that spelled out that there would be public prayers (not a law saying they will be disallowed, but one specifying that they shall take place), that would be wrong, for it would be placing those who believe in God ahead of those who don't. It would violate what the Constitution says, that, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."