Remarkably, 90 percent of Americans identify themselves as either Christians or Jews, according to a City University of New York study. The conclusions of the study, if they are true, beg the question of why our country is in a moral dilemma.
I believe the source of problem can be traced to a religious suppression in America today. The most visible attempts at minimalizing America’s deep history of faith can presently be witnessed in our government, and modern America has seen a moral decline, as a result of condoning moral relativism.
The judicial and legislative branches have continually invoked the idea of “separation of church and state.” Few can locate the origin of that very phrase in our Constitution because the phrase does not exist.
The Founding Fathers fled England because they sought the freedom to practice religion as they saw fit, not how the government mandated. The monarchy of the United Kingdom was not in the practice of allowing religion to influence their decisions. Instead, the government was in the habit of manipulating organized religions to serve their agenda.
The idea behind moral relativism originates from the idea that the standards of right and wrong are subjective to indefinite variables, such as one’s culture and circumstances. Any action is essentially justifiable under moral relativism. When this notion becomes accepted widely enough, society will fall into chaos, fail and cease to exist if the rules governing their people are not consistent.
Man is not perfect. The only way in which man can properly govern himself is when the authority of a higher being is honored. Attempts by governments to remove the religious references are harmful because rights are therein granted by men. Inalienable rights cannot be taken away, but rights granted by men can be rescinded as easily as they are distributed. The existence of a God in our nation’s founding, functions to safe-guard our scores of rights.
Courts should be in the practice of respecting our extensive collection of founding documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the Mayflower Compact, among many others in addition to the Constitution. Each of the founding documents undoubtedly affirms the significance of the role religion and faith played in the lives and societal codes of the Puritans, Quakers and the likes of them. The hierarchies of church organizations served as the framework for our future system of a republican-democracy.
Our American way of life is at risk from the threat of moral relativism. Something as miniscule as removing the phrase “In God we Trust” or eliminating the Ten Commandments from public display are a few instances of religious animosity from the government.
The Young Republicans of Richmond Hill High School are not suggesting our government needs to be controlled by a particular religion, nor are we encouraging the establishment of a state religion. Such actions are rightfully forbidden by the Constitution, and history has shown the results of such actions to be futile.
We do hope that the American citizen will first survey their own hearts and shape their lives accordingly to what is best for the futures of their family, friends, and country. We as a group hope traditional American values do not disappear as a result of numerous hostile policies and actions of the government.
The myriad of antireligious policy decisions from Washington serve to reinforce the cowardly supposition of moral relativism because the traditional American values of integrity, appreciation of hard work, and the success of the family unit are and have shown to be inherently beneficial to the American experiment.

Balcomb is president the Richmond Hill High School Young Republicans.