Mailbag: July 20

Dear Editor,

A few months ago I took a group of teenagers to the state house in Charleston, West Virginia. We had a tour of the Supreme Court. After the tour guide was finished, I asked him if some of the teens could role-play by sitting in the seats of the five Supreme Court Justices. The tour guide agreed and one of the teens played the bailiff by having everyone stand and calling out the triple “Oyez.” After the “judges” took their seats, all of the spectators sat down.

I played the part of the unruly spectator and was fined a fictitious $500. One of the teens raised her hand to ask a question of the tour guide. The guide immediately turned around, pointed his finger at the young lady, and said, “You are a Supreme Court Justice. You do not raise your hand!” I have taught history and government for 23 years, and I learned something at that moment. Who is of greater authority than a Supreme Court Justice? Very few — but the Judge of all the universe is higher in authority.

Last week I toured the Supreme Court of another state. That courtroom has a bronze plaque that simply says, “In God We Trust.” The preamble of the State Constitution or the Bill of Rights of each of our 50 states mentions Almighty God in those terms or in a similar fashion. I recently read a state law that allows the testimony of a dying man to be admissible evidence in a court of law. The law book goes on to say that it is unthinkable that a man who is “about to meet his Maker” would die with a lie on his lips. This law makes no sense without the concept of “the fear of God.”

Our state governments admit that there is a God in Heaven, He is almighty, He made man, and we are responsible to Him.

Yours for the United States,
Dan Manka
Fairmont, WV