"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"
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html
Ok, here is the deal..
Congress shall make NO LAW.
What is a law?Is it part of state?What is state?Are laws in state?
Respecting an establishment of religion.
How do you establish a religion and respect it?Is that by unifying state and church?Is that by saying "we are a Christian nation"?
Now lets put that together:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"
Now clearly this means that our "state" shall not make an official religion.Doesn't it?Besides actually saying "separation of church and state" how much more clear can that be?If you make a law based on religion you break this because the word law is in it.Same with a religion.
2006-08-22 22:00:50 · 10 answers · asked by BuckFush 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
For the record, being a Christian does not mean I have to like Bush or like the idea of a theocracy or religion influencing government.
2006-08-22 22:01:10 · update #1
pastorJ:
You can't read.I gave you your answer to where it says the government can't officate a religion.And Jesus never said I can't have a sense of humor.To bad you don't have one.
2006-08-22 22:09:30 · update #2
"The 'establishment of religion' clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. "
I don't see how this can't be any more clear. Religion cannot influence the way in which policy is made. Meaning, if a policy is backed up by the bible. However, religion can, by chance, be overlapping its beliefs with that of a certain policty (such as murder being a crime).
What was done in Alabama was correct because it was the State (which works under the constiution) that was trying to establish a religion by endorsing it through its monument.
2006-08-22 22:45:58 · answer #1 · answered by Alucard 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is a great chasm between "Congress shall make no law respecting ..." and "No citizen can display religious beliefs in public". What the former means is that the Federal Government could not sanction or establish an official religion, such as they have in Norway. It does not mean that ANY AND EVERY private person IS NOT ALLOWED TO DECLARE their religious beliefs ANYWHERE THEY WANT NO MATTER WHERE, EVEN AT A HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION.
By the way, that thing last year in Alabama where they trashed the Ten Commandment WAS NONE OF CONGRESS' BUSINESS BECAUSE ALABAMA LAWS concerning what it wants to display is a STATE and not FEDERAL issue. IT CAN DECIDE FOR ITSELF. ACLU drop dead and go to Cuba where you belong. Traitors.
2006-08-22 22:11:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Norway has a state religion. Everyone born in Norway is automatically a member of the Norwegian Lutheran Church. Britain has a state church. Everyone automatically belongs to The Church of England. That is what a state church is.
This has nothing to do with the idea of "separation of church and state" that is not in the Constitution but Liberals in this country espouse. Their (your?) idea is that the government can do nothing that has anything religious about it in any way possible.
That idea is ludacrous! Our inalienable (can't take them away) rights come from God, as our Declaration of Independence says. No God, then no rights.
What the "separation of church and state" liberals really want, is for it to be illegal to mention God or Christ in public! The idea that so many believe in God is very scary to them. It threatens their state of denial. They don't admit that God is real because they don't want Him to be real. If God is real, then maybe He has rules that they're supposed to live by. And of course, the worst is, that if they are not obeying God's laws, maybe they will go to hell.
You can see why the have erected this defense mechanism and why they get so angry and feel so threatened when they hear people talking about God. And you can see why the mention of the Bible (the book of God's rules) drives them right up a tree! Anyone who has a defense system like that gets extremely defensive when their defense mechanism is challenged.
The secular liberals are so transparent to someone who knows enough about psychology. It would be funny if it weren't so tragic!
2006-08-22 22:39:20 · answer #3 · answered by Smartassawhip 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No one said you had to like Bush to be a Christian but a Christian would not have a alternative form of the "F" word in their yahoo identity. Second, you can pretend all you want the the first ammendment says to seperate church and state. But no where does it say that, it only says the government shall not makes laws to govern religion or religious institutions. Show me where it says religion cannot influence the way goverment operates and you'll have proven your point. But it does not say that it says the opposite that government shall not dictate how relligion operates it never says, anywhere, that religion cannot influence government.
2006-08-22 22:06:02 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Ok, GOV 101 for you... what makes a law... praying in school, praying before the Supreme Court Justices session begins, praying before a football game, having a famous Christian painting on the Supreme Court building, having the 10 Commandments displayed on a lawn...
NONE of the above...
Congress shall make no law... GET IT!
Our founding fathers prayed and included references to our Creator in our founding documents. They did NOT exclude religion from governmental affairs.
2006-08-22 22:09:27 · answer #5 · answered by Laurie V 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
ok laws regarding the separation of relegion and the state exist but the primary goal of the church is the shepherd of the spiritual life of the people and the state is concern of the temporal needs of the people.No more no less.
2006-08-22 22:06:45 · answer #6 · answered by nes 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I guess some people think that a religion run government is the way to go. I don't know of any religion run government that I would want to live in. That's specifically why the forefathers didn't want religion's interference in governmental affairs.
2006-08-22 22:09:28 · answer #7 · answered by First Lady 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Somebody claims you have to like the president or they will cut off your head? Are you sure your in the continental United States?
2006-08-22 22:05:14 · answer #8 · answered by Marcus R. 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Amen!!
2006-08-22 22:04:44 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont know -sorry
2006-08-22 22:03:15 · answer #10 · answered by hanifrng 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋