Every once in a while, I run across something that captures the essence of an idea which I hold dearly.
The concept of Separation of Church and State is one of those concepts or ideas, and it was with great pleasure that I read an editorial on the Michigan Messenger website by Ed Brayton.
Brayton lays out succinctly and logically the fallacies behind the neocon Religious Right's interpretation of the First Amendment, and goes into the thinking of the "Founders" and their concept of that Wall of Separation.
Go read the article, The Meaning of Separation of Church and State, for yourself, and then you might want to bookmark it for future reference, the next time some fundo religious crazy starts spouting that garbage about the Wall not being mentioned in the Constitution.
Monday, August 18, 2008
The Meaning of "Separation of Church and State"
Posted by Farnsworth68 at 1:28 AM
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3 Comments:
Whenever this topic comes up I refer my right wing friends to the Treaty of Tripoli, signed into law by President John Adams on June 10, 1797, which states:
"As the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion, . . ."
A few years ago I had a debate with an attorney in my building (he was an evangelical Christian)... I asked him to prove his position. He gave me a paper which quoted Pat Robertson. I countered with the Treaty of Tripoli. He never got back to me....
For more information on that treaty, see the excellent article by Dr. Ed Buckner of the America Free Thougth Society at http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/buckner_tripoli.html
Thanks, mrln. It tends to shut up a number of folks if you slap them with a dose of cold reality. Others, not so much.
Here's a clickable link to the Buckner speech. Thanks for pointing it to us.
--The F Man
Yes this is a idea that I hold dear. It is sad that people manipulate the 1st amendment to mean what they want it to mean
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