Perhaps it would be useful to quote the following from Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance (a document that some would claim has constitutional significance, though of course that is contested):
"5. Because the Bill implies either that the Civil Magistrate is a competent Judge of Religious Truth; or that he may employ Religion as an engine of Civil policy. The first is an arrogant pretension falsified by the contradictory opinions of Rulers in all ages, and throughout the world: the second an unhallowed perversion of the means of salvation. Chip ---- Original message ---- >Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:51:06 -0700 >From: "Volokh, Eugene" <[email protected]> >Subject: RE: Using religion for government purposes >To: "Law & Religion issues for Law Academics" <[email protected]> > > Whether or not that > distinction is sound as an empirical matter – and, > given the tradition of using religious invocations > for ceremonial purposes, for national mourning, and > other similar reasons, it’s hard to see all or > most political use of religious talk as “crassly > instrumental [and] low-political” – I take it > that this is not a distinction that constitutional > law can easily draw, no? > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Sanford Levinson > Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 9:37 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Using religion for government purposes > > > > May I respectfully suggest that one difference > between Lincoln and perhaps) all of his successors > is that he was a profoundly serious man who was not > using religion for crassly instrumental > low-political purposes. > > Sandy >________________ >_______________________________________________ >To post, send message to [email protected] >To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see >http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw > >Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. > Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people >can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward >the messages to others. Ira C. Lupu F. Elwood & Eleanor Davis Professor of Law George Washington University Law School 2000 H St., NW Washington, DC 20052 (202)994-7053 _______________________________________________ To post, send message to [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
