Patriotism Can Exist Without Bows to God

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Columns)

Patriotism Can Exist Without Bows to God

Jeremy Patrick (jhaeman@hotmail.com)

The Omaha World-Herald

October 16, 2001

Imagine. It is Sept. 12, 2001. Terrorist attacks have struck New York City, the Pentagon, and elsewhere. In an attempt to foster patriotism and unity, Congress passes new legislation: From this point all, all currency will read "In Jesus We Trust," the Pledge of Allegiance will say "One Nation Under Jesus," and schoolchildren will be encouraged to sing "Jesus Bless America."
Imagine further: The rabbi of a nearby synagogue contacts his congressman to tell him that he is disturbed by the government’s appropriation of religious language and symbolism. The congressman tells him that, although Jews are certainly "entitled to the full protection of the First Amendment," didn’t he make a decision to become Jewish and shouldn’t he have to "live with the consequences?" After all, he says, we can’t go around restructuring society every time the government decides to use religious language.

The congressman notes that America is 85 percent Christian and only 5 percent Jewish and that Christianity was historically an important influence on the country. He concludes by stating that although the Jewish view "deserves tolerance and respect, so also do the sincere expressions of the (Christian) majority."

I hope we would all be aghast at that hypothetical congressman’s reasoning. We would understand that the Constitution doesn’t allow the majority to impose its religious beliefs on a minority because the very purpose of the Bill of Rights is to protect minority groups from democratic majorities. We would also understand that a grave evil is committed when the government makes decisions about such a complex, private, and ultimate question like "What is the nature of God?"

Yet, our imaginary congressman’s argument is the same one The World-Herald used in an Oct. 12 editorial about the mixture of government and religion. In addressing whether it was OK for the president to call for national days or prayer or insert religious exercises into traditional patriotic ceremonies, The World-Herald simply asserted that atheists have chosen their beliefs and must live with the consequences of feeling excluded; even more, atheists need to be "tolerant and respectful" of the religious majority’s "sincere expressions" of faith.

The problems with what happened in the imaginary scenario and what has occurred recently are the same: in each case, the government has decided a religious question and has promoted it as the "correct" one without even considering that others have different religious beliefs. The problem with the use of religious terminology by the government is not that atheists are offended (though we are) or that we feel excluded (though that certainly occurs, too) but that we understand better than most the dangers that occur when the government becomes enmeshed with religion. And we hate to see what should be a fundamental ethic of civil life reduced to an "annoying" constitutional issue that government officials try to either ignore or work around.

What becomes apparent as well is that these references to God are not mere "cultural" artifaccts of a long-ago age; nor are they de minimis violations of the Constitution. Every time one of these "ceremonial deisms" is allowed, it is invoked as a reason why another questionable involement of government with religion (such as school prayer or nativity scenes) shouldn’t be prohibited. As the Supreme Court said almost 40 years ago, "it is no defense to urge that the religious practices here may be relatively minor encroachments on the First Amendment. The breach of neutrality that is today a trickling stream may all too soon become a raging torrent and, in the words of Madison, ‘it is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties.’"

Try then, to explain to a child how—although our currency says "in God we trust," his schoolteachers have him recite "one nation under God" and sing "God Bless America" every day, and the president and Congress constantly exhort him to pray—the government is really remaining rigorously neutral on the question of whether there is a god or what his or her relationship to humanity might be like.

The World-Herald would have me "respect and tolerate" government us of religious terminology and symbolism. I can respect, tolerate, and even encourage private citizens to express their religious beliefs, because I know that I have the exact same opportunity to express my own (or lack thereof). But I cannot tolerate it when some private citizens, even a majority of them, have hijacked the government into endorsing their religious beliefs in a way that I can’t match.

There are several billboards in Lincoln that state two slogans we’ve been hearing a lot lately: "united we stand" and "in God we trust." When the government has stopped proclaiming the second one, I might agree with the first one.

Visitors

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Buffy book reviews)

VISITORS

By Laura Anne Gilman & Josepha Sherman (1999)

RATING: 2/5 Stakes

SETTING: Third Season

CAST APPEARANCES: Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Angel, Cordelia, Oz, Joyce, Ethan Rayne, Devon, Jonathan, Principal Snyder

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Gerald Panner (Watcher); Sheila, C.B., Rebecca, Elaine, Miriam (student teachers)

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: “The paranormal forces centered in Sunnydale attract the vilest kinds of evil: vamps, demons . . . and student teachers? An invasion of collegians testing their teaching prowess on Buffy and her peers coincides with the arrival of a supernatural stalker. The Slayer feels the evil entity watching her every move, and she’s not the only one. But researching the best is going to be problematic with the student teachers setting up shop in Giles’s home turf--the school library. When the stalker starts to take his malicious game to the next level, Buffy finds herself face to face with a being unlike any she’s ever encountered. But can she figure out its weakness before she is forced to participate in its dance of death?”

REVIEW

For the first few years of the line’s existence, the Buffy books were subtly separated, on a list of books inside the front cover, into “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” books and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer adult books”. In reality, it’s difficult to tell the difference between “adult” books and non-adult books as the cover designs, plots, and other details of the books seemed largely identical.

Although the distinction was later abandoned, Visitors is a good example of a Buffy book intended for the teenage crowd--it’s relatively short, uncomplicated, and straightforward. In fact, the entire plotline of Visitors could easily have been condensed into a short story for one of the Tales of the Slayers types of book: a korred (a mythological creature with goat feet and a penchant for making people dance to their deaths by playing the flute) comes to Sunnydale and starts stalking Buffy, while the arrival of several student teachers makes the Scooby Gang wonder if there is some connection between the two events.

Unfortunately, an appearance by trouble-maker extraordinaire Ethan Rayne and a spy from the Watcher’s Council end up being tangential to the plot and unsatisfying. Visitors develops very, very slowly, and the tepid would-be climax is not worth the wait. However, there are some great moments with the characters, such as Willow getting spastic on caffeine or the group’s fear that they will drift apart when college comes. The dialogue is strong and Buffy and her friends are portrayed “accurately.”

It’s hard to think of anything else to say--simply put, not much happens in the novel. Plot-wise, Visitors is one of the weakest of the Buffy books, but the “quiet” moments are written well enough that there is still some entertainment to be found within.

Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Comics That Time Forgot)

Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja

# 1-16, Marvel (1989-1990)
Scripts: Larry Hama (# 1-16)
Pencils: Ron Wagner (# 1-7, 9-16); Dale Keown (# 8)
Inks: Fred Fredericks (# 1-16)
Colors: Mark Chiarello (# 1-7); Bob Sharen (# 8-16)
Letters: Janice Chiang (# 1-16)
Editor: Bobbie Chase (# 1-16)
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco (# 1-16)

Although plentiful in novels and movies, Cold War era tales of World War III were rare in comics. Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja is one such rare example. The plot of Nth Man is a fascinating one. An incredibly powerful and near-omniscient human named Alfie O’Meagan disables all nuclear weapons worldwide in a bid to ensure the future of Earth. In the confusion and panic that ensues, the world’s superpowers enter into a conventional war: the Soviet Union quickly overruns much of Europe, while China and the United States join together to help stop the juggernaut. Unwilling to take the chance of defeat, the CIA sends its best operative, John Doe, to assassinate O’Meagan so the United States can once again have a nuclear deterrent.

Larry Hama is one of the very, very few comic book writers who could pull off such a set-up, but it works wonderfully. His extensive knowledge of military tactics and hardware lend the World War III scenes a realistic and engaging atmosphere (and avoids casting either the U.S. or the Soviet Union as "good guys" and "bad guys"), but it is with the characters of John Doe and Alfie O’Meagan that the writing really shines. Through extensive flashback scenes seamlessly integrated into the main plot, we learn that Doe and O’Meagan grew up together at the same orphanage and were an unusual combination of friends and enemies at the same time. In short, the events of the past influence the events of the present, and we learn a lot about O’Meagan and Doe and start to really care what happens to them.

The series major failings probably came in marketing and timing. With a logo spouting that Nth Man was "The Ultimate Ninja," serious comics readers likely assumed the series was simply another attempt to capitalize on the "ninja" phenomenon that was appearing in so many other comics, or a spin-off of Hama’s G.I. Joe work. The fact that the series came out in 1989, the same year the Berlin Wall fall and the real Cold War ended, probably did not help matters any.

Nth Man only lasted sixteen issues, which is unfortunate because Hama had an epic story to tell and instead was forced to advance the course of the war (and the plot) by a year in between issues 14 and 15. Hama still gives us a great ending, however, tying the conclusion of the series into its beginning in a way that few writers could. Nth Man is one of those series that at first glance may seem stupid, but is definitely worth delving into.

NOTE: It's been reported that Nth Man also made an appearance in Excalibur # 27. I don't have this comic but it may be worth checking out.

Who is Oscar Lake?

On the subject of computer games, I recently took a stab at Who is Oscar Lake?, a disk included in my Instant Immersion French 2.0 box set. This is a first-person "role-playing game" where you play a gem expert who is framed for the theft of an expensive blue diamond. This "game" was . . . simply pretty crappy. I understand it's a learning tool so I wasn't expecting amazing graphics or gameplay, but even as a learning tool it didn't seem very effective: as the player, you can sometimes respond to what a character says in multiple ways, but the different responses are always simply different ways of saying the exact same thing. In other words, I couldn't see for the life of me how the choices could have any effect on gameplay, which means that increased proficiency in French or careful reading or listening doesn't seem to matter. Anyway, the game box boasts of 3 possible endings that increase in difficulty--after maybe an hour's play, I stumbled on one ending (being convicted of the theft) so I guess I have to load a saved game and see if I can make progress along a different route.

Escape the Museum

From time to time, the soon-to-be Missus and I get in a computer game mood. Our latest conquest was the puzzler Escape the Museum. A massive earthquake has struck, trapping a museum curator inside the building. The idea of the game is that the curator has to escape each room in the museum--this involves finding a handful of designated items in each room and assembling them together to create a way out. Along the way, you can voluntarily spend time on scavenger hunt exercises, which basically involve finding an assortment of items hidden on an extremely cluttered screen. It's quite an easy game, as you always know exactly what you're looking for, there's no carry over of items from room to room, it's quite linear, and you can use the Hint function if you can't find an item. It only took us about 5 hours to finish, but I think I picked it up out of the bargain bin so it wasn't a bad deal.

Commandments Can't Stay in Park

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Columns)

Commandments Can’t Stay in Park

Jeremy Patrick (jhaeman@hotmail.com) and Tim Butz

The Omaha World-Herald, 2001

"When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free."
--Charles Evans Hughes, Republican president candidate (1916) and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice (1930-1941)

The World-Herald has written at least three editorials on ACLU Nebraska’s efforts to have a Ten Commandments monument moved from a city-owned park. The editors have taken a position that ACLU Nebraska is wrong and have encouraged the City of Plattsmouth to keep the monument in place. Most recently, Attorney General Don Stenberg has sought to intervene in the case, claiming that any adverse decision in this case could jeopardize the art and architecture of the State Capitol.

The issue is a controversial one and has understandably led to some heated rhetoric by advocates of each side. Frequently, the debate deviates from the primary issue at stake: Does the Plattsmouth Ten Commandments monument violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause? An explanation of why ACLU Nebraska brought this lawsuit may help place the controversy in a better framework.

The Supreme Court has found that a government action violates the constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state when the action either constitutes an endorsement of religion or creates an excessive entanglement with religion. In December of last year, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the Indiana Civil Liberties Union that a monument of the Ten Commandments displayed by the city of Elkhart, Ind., was unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court refused to disturb that finding. We expect a similar outcome in this case.

ACLU Nebraska did not seek to have the matter settled by a judge. We attempted to resole this matter without the use of the courts ans asked the Plattsmouth City Council to move the monument to private land. The council decided to keep the monument in place, and the current lawsuit has resulted.

ACLU Nebraska expects to prevail because the Ten Commandments is a religious monument; it is not limited to the sorts of secular moral exhortations we are all familiar with ("Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not steal," etc.). The monument explicitly informs citizens that "I AM the LORD thy God," "Thou shalt have no other gods before me, "Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain" and more. Additionally, this particular monument depicts two small Stars of David, Hebrew Script, and chi and rho, the Greek letters for "Christ."

Some have tried to defend the city’s actions by arguing that Plattsmouth is merely attempting to set forth a common code of conduct for its citizens. If that were true, ACLU Nebraska would have no objection to the city placing large billboards in the park with the words "do not kill" and "do not steal." However, we can imagine no legitimate government purpose in including commands that citizens refrain from blaspheming God or to observe "the Sabbath day and keep it holy."

Additionally, Plattsmouth can merely return this monument to the Eagles Club or some other private entity for public display. It is important to note that neither ACLU Nebraska nor the complainant in this case objects to the public display of the monument as long as it is on privately owned land.

Others argue that by virtue of its historic association with America, the Ten Commandments are somehow exempt from meeting the requirements of the Establishment Clause. However, unconstitutional acts do not somehow become constitutional merely because they have been allowed to exist for 35 years (or even 200 years).

As one court noted, if the Constitution prohibited only that conduct that was prohibited at its creation, "African-Americans would still be subjected to Jim Crow laws, segregated schools and miscegenation statutes; women would not be entitled to the protection of the Equal Protection Clause (and) seditious libel could still be a crime."

ACLU Nebraska is fighting for the principle that the government does not have the right to issue religious edicts in this manner. Allowing the City of Plattsmouth to maintain such a monument on government property constitutes an endorsement of Judeo-Christian religion and, as Justice O’Connor stated in Lynch v. Donnelly, "sends a message to nonadherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community."

As for Attorney General Stenberg’s contention that the Plattsmouth case puts the art and architecture of the State Capitol in jeopardy, the record should be clear that this is Stenberg’s own view and not the position of ACLU Nebraska. The Supreme Court has said that context is important in deciding if a display is unconstitutional. Unlike Plattsmouth, where the monument stands alone in the park, the Judeo-Christian artwork in the Capitol is placed alongside a wide variety of historical and cultural displays. Thus, no reasonable person could consider the Capitol an endorsement of a particular religion or religion in general. Comparing the Plattsmouth monument to the Capitol artwork is like comparing apples and oranges.

Currently, 11.4 percent of Americans (more than 30 million people) consider themselves non-religious, and an even larger number of Americans are not Christian or Jewish. When Plattsmouth displays a religious monument like the Ten Commandments, it sends the message to atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics, Wiccans, and others that they are not "not full members of the political community" and therefore not welcome in the town.

ACLU Nebraska contains members who have a wide variety of religious beliefs; many are Christians and believe strongly in the virtues of the Ten Commandments. What brings us all together, however, is a staunch belief that government should not use its power to endorse religion. And if a monument to the Ten Commandments, complete with Jewish and Christian symbols and phrases such as "I AM the LORD thy God," does not constitute a government endorsement of religion, we have difficulty thinking what does.

(c) Jeremy Patrick & Tim Butz, 2001

Child of the Hunt

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Buffy book reviews)

CHILD OF THE HUNT

Christopher Golden & Nancy Holder (1998)

RATING: 5/5 Stakes

SETTING: Season Three

TV CHARACTER APPEARANCES: Buffy, Joyce, Giles, Xander, Willow, Oz, Cordelia, Angel, Sheila Rosenberg, Xander's Dad, Xander's Mom, Ira Rosenberg, Cordelia's Dad

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Connie DeMarco, Brian Anderson (runaways); Liz DeMarco, Jamie Anderson (runaways' parents); Erl King (villain); Lucy Hanover (ghostly Slayer); Roland (Erl King's son); "Robin Hood", "King Richard" (sorcerers)

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: "Jousting contests, human chess matches, lords and ladies and beggars . . . a traveling Renaissance fair has come to Sunnydale. The fair may seem terminally uncool, but Buffy and her friends are charmed anyway. Especially by a sad-eyed boy named Roland, who serves as the court jester. Unfortunately, the people from the fair are not the only visitors in Sunnydale. Roaming the countryside are nasty little creatures with a taste for flesh: the dark faerie. They are minions of the Wild Hunt, servants of the evil Erl King. Buffy's challenge is to annihilate the king and his murderous horde. But the path to his destruction leads straight to Roland, who is not quite human . . . and destined to become the Slayer's mortal adversary."

REVIEW

Child of the Hunt was the first Pocket Books adult Buffy novel, following the early Archway series of "young adult" novels. The change in tone and length serves the novel well, as Child of the Hunt is able, like many early Buffy episodes, to discuss a real problem facing youth (in this case, runaway teens) through the context of a supernatural crisis.

The main villain of the story is the Erl King (also known as Hern the Hunter), a mythological entity who leads the Wild Hunt, a murderous pack of demons which kills some humans but sweeps up the lonely, the depressed, the suicidal, and others in the throes of misery to join the cause before moving on.

The theme of the novel is parents and their children, and we get to see, at least, briefly, scenes with each of the Scooby's parents--some of whom have never been portrayed on screen, like Willow's and Cordelia's fathers. Written and set near the beginning of Season Three, the story benefits and integrates Buffy's decision to run away from Sunnydale at the end of Season Two.
The authors (Golden & Holder) deliver their usual excellent characterization of the Buffy cast, but what makes this novel really stand-out is the portrayal of the supporting characters: the runaway teens and their parents. Unlike the supporting characters in most Buffy novels, these aren't generic victims or bystanders--they each have a real personality and a role to play in the story. In addition, the Erl King has some real weight as a villain with the incorporation of real-worth myth.

Not much more needs to be said. Child of the Hunt combines a real-world problem, an interesting fictional menace, and great writing. The result is an excellent novel, worth picking up at any used bookstore.