--- In [email protected], grate.swan <no_re...@...> wrote: > > i know you are a constitutional scholar so this may come as a surprise to > you. It did to me. But people who apparently know far more about the > constitutional law than you ever will, despite your teaching it for 10 years > at a leading university, have revealed to me that separation of church and > state means far more than the traditional view that the state shall not > establish a state religion. > > It has been revealed to me by these wise and learned scholars that separation > of church and state inf FACT means that nothing with religious roots can be > associated with anything used or funded by the state. So it is with a heavy > heart, that i must tell you that it is your solomn duty to to the country and > the founding fathers to do cleanly cleave the following from the state -- ban > them. You must. The future of democracy and the country depend upon it. > > 1) Burn all currency ("in God we trust" > 2) Revoke christmas, easter and thanksgiving as federal holidays > 3) destroy or sell off 3/4 of the art in the national museums -- and > federally funded museums across the nation. > 4) redo the inaguration. No prayers. You are a false unsworn in president > until you do. > 5) ban football and baseball from being played in stadiums that have received > any federal funds - (or else those zealot prayer monger players will subvert > our youth. > 6) Ban all wine form state dinners and official functions. My god man, wind > is used as a holy sacrament in a highly religions rite. > > Mr Obama sir, I can go on and on. You get my drift. You are a smart guy. > Severe this toxic link between church and state, Its Imperative! >
The separation of church and state, as per the original intentions of the framers of the constitution, wasn't that the individual states couldn't have a "state" religion or engage in religious activities. This restriction was only for the FEDERAL government. Indeed, none of the individual colonies would have signed on to creating the United States if they would have been prevented from doing so because they were all pretty much engaged in religious activities. The following excerpt is from Kevin Gutzman, the author of "The politically incorrect guide to the constitution", from a recent appearance on CSPAN: "People recognized at the time (of the writing of the first amendment) that the first amendment was intended to be a limitation only on the powers of the federal government. After all, it begins by saying 'Congress shall make no law' respecting an establishment of religion. The reason it says 'Congress shall make no law' is that people thought that this proposed new federal constitution was going to make the federal government too powerful. We have this principle, we've just come through the revolution wanting to have all our authority through the local legislatures, so we're going to add this bill of rights to ensure that the federal government cannot be in the business of telling us what we can say and think about God. We're not going to require as they do in Denmark, that everybody be a Lutheran, we're not going to require as they do in England that everybody be an Anglican. But, if Connecticut wanted to continue what it had at the time the first amendment was adopted, -- to tax you to support Puritanism, Congregationalism -- it could! It could and did! For decades after that! "Why? Well, because it always had and that's what Connecticut had been about and there was nothing in the federal constitution to prevent that. The federal courts at first recognized this principle. In fact in 1833 in a case called Barron v. Baltimore, Chief Justice Marshall for a unanimous court -- and this is the only time Marshall ever handed down a constitutional decision that was against federal authority, the only time -- Marshall said: Everybody knows the Bill of Rights is a limitation only on the federal government. "Everybody knew that till 1947. Everybody knew that. So, there is no principle of separation of church and state in the constitution although there is the principle of separation of church and state in constitutional law, that is, these opinions from federal judges.
