Religion in the American public square under assault
By Newt Gingrich
(Speaking on CSPAN’s book show “After Words”)
Secularists and their allies have been driving religion out from the American political process. The question is asked about religion in the context of its existence within the American public square…
Newt Gingrich responds:
“Why would you consciously and deliberately drive [religion] out of the public square? [Doing so] distorts what America is. It’s a complete repudiation of the founding fathers, including Jefferson.”
“As I make quite clear in Winning the Future, people totally misuse Jefferson’s language.
“When Jefferson was president, they had church every Sunday in the House of Representatives chamber. Jefferson allowed the treasury building to be used for church services. Jefferson personally went to the House chamber.
“To now say, you can’t have a school prayer before a football game; to say you can’t give out the Declaration of Independence because it has the phrase: ‘our Creator’ in it.
“To suggest that any reference to God in a public environment is wrong; to say that the [saying] ‘Merry Christmas’ is somehow inappropriate.
“I think we ought to be honest about it. This is a clear secular assault on religious beliefs.
“And I grant the secularists the right to assault. But I want the right to fight back. I want the right to say that that’s wrong.”
