American Civil Religion: a Secular Faith

Here in the United States of America, we have a generally recognized, and usually participated in, civil religion. It is not held up as mandatory, and it is intentionally designed to avoid contradicting any other religion or faith of anyone who may come here as an immigrant. Many of our earliest founders came here to escape religious persecution, and we continue to value our freedom of conscience. In most instances, it is your right to ignore the celebration of our national pride, and many of us do, on occasion, forget its holidays. But we do accede to the demands that tend to keep the peace, and ask that our visitors do so as well. If you wish to stay for a while in America, you would be well-advised to become familiar with our secular, and even admittedly artificial "civil religion." It is widely viewed as an essential part of our cultural identity.

OUR FUNDAMENTAL IDEALS:
Judaeo-Christianity
Freedom of Religion
Democratic Republic
Freedom & Frontiers
Pursuit of happiness
Rugged individualism
Technological innovation
Space Colonialism*
    (*Our Moral Equivalent of War, but with no enemy to destroy)

WHAT WE HOLD SACRED:
The Declaration of Independence
The Constitution of the U.S.A.
The Bill of Rights
Betsy Ross' Flag (13 stars in a circle)
Liberty Bell
Founding fathers
martyrs & fallen soldiers
veterans

HOW WE PARTICIPATE:
The Star Spangled Banner
America the Beautiful
Pledge of Allegiance
Scouting clubs
Peace Corps/Vista
Military service
Astronaut Corps
Political parties
Voting/Elected office
Paying Taxes

OUR NATIONAL HOLIDAYS:
1. New Year's Day -- Jan
*. ML King Jr Birthday -- Feb*
2. Presidents' Day -- Feb
3. Easter/Passover -- Mar/Apr
4. Emancipation Day -- Apr
*. Mothers' Day -- May*
5. Memorial Day -- May
6. Flag Day -- Jun
*.  Freedom Day - Jun* ("Juneteenth")
*.  Father's Day -- Jun*
7. Independence Day -- Jul
*. Apollo Landing Day -- Jul*
8. Purple Heart Day -- Aug
9. Labor Day -- Sep
*. Patriots Day - Sep*
10. Constitution Day, Sep 19
11. Columbus Day -- Oct
12. Veterans' Day -- Nov
13. Thanksgiving Day -- Nov
14. Christmas/Hanukkah -- Dec
     (*special interest participation*)
[Perhaps we should make room for one more holy day: Yom Teshuvah, the Day of Repentance. A day of prayer and fasting, when we confess and turn away from our national, collective and personal sins and wrong habits, and ask God for forgiveness. Maybe on the last Friday of August. P.S., It's not an actual Jewish holiday.]

OUR CORE VALUES:
1. E Pluribus Unum
      - allegiance to the Constitution
      - melting pot of citizenship
      - participation, not conformity
      - consent, not compulsion
2. Liberty
      - personal autonomy
      - capitalize on your talents
      - if it's not forbidden, you can try
      - be smart, but play fair
3. In God We Trust
      - choice of religion
      - allow for different observances
      - respect for reason
      - freedom from persecution
4. Self-reliance
      - be diligent & resourceful
      - follow your dream
      - plan for success
      - work to be prosperous
5. Progress & Innovation
      - progress builds the future
      - improve the process
      - science & invention
      - dare to be creative
6. Community
      - polite, examplary behavior
      - public education
      - responsibility for justice
      - evolution toward utopia
7. The American Dream
      - get the best education you can
      - own your own home
      - run your own business
      - go into a profession
          - politics, law, medicine, professor
      - build an inheritance for your kids
          - pass down some land
      - raise your social status
      - retire with wealth and leisure
      - be remembered by the community

The integration of immigrants is the reason why we have a "civil religion."  After all, America is a land of immigrants, much to the chagrin of the natives who were here first. Thus, the refusal to assimilate should be sufficient reason to be refused citizenship by naturalization. No matter where in the world you are from, nor any consideration of race, creed or ethnicity, if you don't want to become an American, nor wish to live in peace with us, you should go home. And any intent or attempt to weaken or overthrow the US Constitution is nothing less than treason.

And, yes, the US was founded as a Judaeo-Christian nation, because our founders came mostly from Christian Europe. But they took a stand on secularism and the separation of Church and State because so many came here to seek freedom from persecution for religious beliefs. We have historically been a majority Protestant Christian nation as a result. Thus, we cannot tolerate the persecution of anyone for their beliefs, but neither can religion be used as a shield to protect those who would want to undermine and attack our society.

The Jews, in their various denominations, have always had a debate among themselves about how much to become assimilated, without losing their peculiar identity. This is not unique to the Jews in America, but has always been the case wherever they go. But they have never tried to infiltrate and influence the host society in an attempt to transform it into their own image. As a result, they have become a model for being unique in a respectful and pluralistic society, one which every other ethnic group would do well to emulate in their own fashion. It is not their intent to draw special attention to their differences, but neither do they try to hide them, because they know that there is nothing to fear. Anyone who persecutes them will be viewed as criminal by the society at large.

Unfortunately, there is one exception:

Muslims have always been anti-American. Our very first war, after independence, was against Muslim state-sponsored pirates and slavers. And the relationship between us has remained in constant tension. Only our dependence on the oil fields held in Arab lands has forced us into somewhat more tolerant relations. Recently however, ill-conceived political agendas have unwittingly allowed the infiltration of islamic political ideology into our country, under the guise of seeking peace and freedom as refugees.

Meanwhile, the Muslims who have come here have done little to maintain any kind of respectful relationship with the other members of our society. Rather, they have created exclusive enclaves, flouted our traditions, taken offense at our public values, and attempted to change our legal processes. Their tactics have often been disruptive and occasionally violent. And they claim to be doing this in the name of tolerance and religious freedom, but actually, they are using our own values to undermine us and subvert our freedoms.

It is now increasingly clear that Islam's intention is to disestablish our traditional foundations and overthrow our Republic. Constitutional government is abhorrent to them because it is not subservient to their view of God. Therefore, their hidden wish is to replace our society with one enslaved by Islamic Sharia law. This should never be allowed, nor can any incremental move in that direction be in any way tolerated. Nor can the claim to profess a "moderate" form of Islam be believed. Even apparently "westernized" muslims know that they are told to lie in order to protect Islam, and so they can be radicalized at any time. Moreover, Islam does not believe in freedom of religion, or even free speech. They have only contempt for our tolerance. The entire Islamic agenda is antithetical to our history and our Constitution as a free people.

Therefore, we must keep a sentry at the gate.

If anyone should be barred from entry into America, they are those who carry Islam, with its indivisible political-religious ideology, as part of their cultural baggage. This is fair, as it is neither the establishment of any religion, nor is it intolerance of any honest faith in God. It is only forbidding an inimical political agenda and ideology, for the sake of preserving our nation and its identity as a beacon of hope, religious freedom and liberty of human conscience.

Only those who can agree to assimilate, as much as their own conscience may allow, and to support our country should be allowed to immigrate. And those who can swear without any mental reservations or hidden agendas to willingly sacrifice in order to preserve our beloved nation and its Constitutional government are welcome to become full citizens.

For further investigation:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_civil_religion
and:
Religion for Breakfast, YouTube, "American Civil Religion Series"