Arizona Governor, Doug Ducey, decided to stand by a recent Twitter post. In an Easter weekend Tweet, the Governor had posted, “He is risen,” while wishing his Christian constituents a “blessed and happy Easter.”

He then
began receiving pressure from various secular groups to remove it and
apologize. Ducey’s reply was, “We won’t be removing this post. Ever. Nor will
we be removing our posts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Palm Sunday,
Passover or any other religious holiday. We support the First Amendment, and
are happy to provide copies of the Constitution to anyone who hasn’t read it.”

The rejoinder
was particularly interesting because one of the complaints contended that Ducey
was in violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States. This is the one, of course, that upholds freedom of speech as well as
religion. It specifically reads as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

It’s pretty obvious that the Governor didn’t breach the first amendment. He did torque off a few people who don’t like the mention of anything that smacks of religion. I’m not sure if this will aid him in his next election or hurt him. Either way, he stood by his convictions that it’s his right to wish someone a Happy Hanukkah or a delightful Kwanza.

It’s no secret that the separation of church and state in this country has taken on a whole new meaning. People like to use it as a club to get their own way these days. It is more than a shame that we have to guard our well-wishes tightly so as to not offend even those for whom the remarks are not intended—or are even indirectly affected. Somehow, I’m pretty sure this is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they drafted the constitution.

Nevertheless,
this is where we are. Wishing someone well can now make for entertaining
Twitter wars. I can just picture Obi-Wan Kenobi waving his hand saying, “These
are not the Tweets you’re looking for.”

And that brings up my main point. Why are we bothering to glean Tweets that are not meant for us? When something is stated that does not pertain to us, can’t we just let them slide on through like so much water rushing by us in the local river? Do we have to dive in? Please don’t come in! The water’s not fine.

I guess
that everything is so public these days, it’s hard not to notice—even when it
doesn’t concern us. We seem to have so much time on our hands that everyone
else’s business becomes our own. Heaven forbid we pass up an opportunity to
post a commentary on another person’s activities. We might be viewed as
uninformed. Get wrecked!

[Dave Zuchelli is a graduate of
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and currently resides in Aldie, VA.]

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