To: "'Josh Aaron Bradley'" <jab13@cornell.edu>
Subject: RE: a concerned constituent
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 16:00:34 -0400
Thank you for contacting me concerning House Joint Resolution 78, the
Religious Freedom Amendment. I appreciate knowing your views on this
issue.
HJRes 78 is a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would protect
individuals' rights to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs on
public property -- including schools -- but would prohibit the federal
government or any state from establishing an official religion. It also
specifies that the federal government or any state could not require an
individual to join in prayer or other religious activity, discriminate
against religion, nor deny access to benefits on account of religion.
The only previous vote in the House on a constitutional amendment
concerning the relationship between the government and religion occurred
in 1971 on a school prayer amendment -- when the House failed (by 28
votes) to garner the necessary two-thirds majority required for
adoption.
A series of court rulings has tragically eroded the free speech rights
of people of faith. For example, a minister was prevented from giving
an invocation at a graduation ceremony -- even when the students
themselves requested it. Another court upheld a teacher giving a young
student a failing grade on a research paper, simply because the girl
decided to write her paper about Jesus. This problem has resulted in a
compounding, pervasive and chilling effect on religious activities.
School and government officials are banning bibles on desks, religious
t-shirts, the use of the word "God" by valedictorians, and even a
Valentine written to Jesus. Only the threat of legal action, and
sometimes legal action itself, is allowing these forms of religious free
speech to occur.
The House failed to pass the RFA by the required two-thirds majority on
June 4, 1998, by a vote of 224-203. I voted in favor of passage,
because I support allowing prayer back into our schools. In 1998 alone,
numerous violent shootings, rapes, and assaults have taken place at
public schools, and the experts are questioning why. They just do not
get it. A school without God is a school without education. A school
without God is a school without discipline. A school without God is a
school without values. Maybe experts will finally get the message that
a school without God is a playground for the demon. The Congress should
allow school prayer.
Thank you once again for contacting me. Should you have any further
comments or questions, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Respectfully,
James A. Traficant, Jr.
Member of Congress
JAT/drb
>----------
>From: Josh Aaron Bradley[SMTP:jab13@cornell.edu]
>Sent: Friday, June 05, 1998 1:04 PM
>To: TellJim
>Subject: a concerned constituent
>
> Hi, as a Democrat and a constituent of the Honorable James Traficant I
>would like to express my displeasure with the congressman's comments on the
>floor of the House during the debate over the RFA. Frankly I am embarrassed
>that the congressman, who has so emphatically defended the common man in
>the past, has had a change of heart and believes that the will of the
>majority must be forced down the throats of the minority. The RFA is the
>"Religious Coercion Amendment" as Congressman Nadler named it and would be
>detrimental to the liberties of all citizens, or at least those who don't
>hold the extremist views of the Religious Right. Please realize how
>detrimental this amendment would be. Not everyone believes in god, and even
>more don't believe in a Christian god, please don't use the Constitution to
>discriminate against them. Thanks.
>
> -Josh Bradley
>