This country was founded to allow religious freedom for its citizens. Religion is an opinion ... a belief. It is not fact. What can we do to: 1. Keep religious leaders from dictating and interfering with politics? 2. Get the word 'God' out of government pledges and coins? 3. Prevent teaching of intelligent design in our schools and giving children thed wrong idea about evolution? 4. Provide a environment of religious freedom.
We absolutely need to adhere to Separation of Church and State in our country. We need to get rid of the Chocking Grasp that the Religious Right has on our government! Our leaders need to govern by our Constitution and NOT someones Bible, be it Christain or Muslim or Jew! Our goverment needs to remember when they took office they SWORE to UpHold our Constitution NOT the Bible!!!
How does one reconcile "Freedom of Religion" and an "envirionment of religious freedom" with preventing religious leaders from "interfering" with politics, getting God out of government pledges, and preventing teaching of intelligent design. These are all tenets and beliefs held by a majority of people of all faiths. If these beliefs are to be eliminated or disallowed from our government, it has to be done by the majority of the people of this country agreeing to eliminate religious freedom from our Constitutional rights. If it is dictated, or "so moved" just by members of the government, it violates our entire system of democracy based on the fundamental rights of the majority of the people. Even Nancy Pelosi can't make those changes.
Marv I'm a little confused by your statement. I feel strongly that Freedom of Religion should be included in our country JUST not used by One religious group to govern our people. Everyone is entitled to believe in what they choose or NOT believe. That's the Freddom of Religion our Constitution guarantees us. I see no reason to take out the word GOD from our money or even from the Pledge of Alligience for that matter, even though it was added MUCH later when we entered into the cold war with Russia. The word God simply states we believe in a Supreme being and it doesn't denote Which one that is. What "majority" of us are saying is that the Religious Right needs to butt out of government affairs because there is this Separation of Church and State and there should Not be one religion over another..
I do not agree that it can be assumed that every person in this country believes in a supreme being of one sort or another, nor that they should be required/expected to. I would like to point out/remind that the only reference to religion in the Constitution is:
...no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Article6
This is a really important issue to me that I think needs attention. However, there are a lot more pressing matters at the moment (global warming, energy crisis, oil, war, president bush in general) that I think need to be at the forefront of these efforts. I would hate for this question to detract form more pressing matters.
All of those issues you are referring to here is being Pushed By the Religious Right. Seaparation of Church and State is a Separate issue that also needs attention. We want our leaders to lead from our Constitution and Rule of Law not by how a religious Group thinks we should govern. So yes this is an important issue.
The phrase separation of church and state is not part of the Bill of Rights, nor the U.S. Constitution, nor any other U.S. Law. It was a phrase Thomas Jefferson used in a letter, and he did not mean what people today usually mean when they use it, as you are doing. If the founding fathers had thought that, they would not have accepted and acted on Benjamin Franklin's advice, that they pray for help forming the constitution. The constitution limits our government. The reason the founding fathers thought that way, was because they believed the rights to be protected were God given rights. Do you understand this? It is not the constitution nor even the Bill of Rights that gives you or me certain rights, it is God who gives us those rights. So unless you intend to toss out the constitution or the Bill of Rights, and make up a different government other than the one the founding fathers gave us, (and I know that's what some of you would like to do) then God and the word God is not going away. You are free to think whatever you please concerning God or the word God, but that does not give you the right to remove it from our history nor the role God, as understood by the founding fathers, had in forming this government and nation. What I don't understand about folks like you who complain in this way, is why you allow the government to exceed its constitutional limitations by becoming the social avenue for providing help and have allowed our government to fulfill other religious functions, such as providing charity through taxing the citizens? This is the role of the church, and I do think the government should be prevented from usurping the place of the church in that way. It is the government and its agencies which have become a kind of people's church, and in the name of goodness these agencies have taken on all manner of works which they should not have done. When, I wonder, will the government get out of the church business?
It was a metaphor sir and it certainly is a written one. AND it does mean what is being implied here. the "Separation of Church and State." Without seeing in front ofme I think it something like the "Wall of Separation" But I'll give you a link where it is spoken of and How it's intent is, though I'm sure I did this before. http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_reli.html#first As for you last statement, THAT is what we have been talking about here and that is what the intent of Separtion of Church and State is for and WHY we need to get rid of the Grasp the Religious Right who has a tight grasp on govenment. ALSO there is NO mandate that a President or any elected official be a Christiain to get voted into office! Any way it appears we are on the same page. Dominick **************************************************************************************************
We should tax all church property except that which is specifically used for the the rites, rituals, sacrements and chiritable activities. we should remove the tax exemption of all religious institutions that engage in political activity. Another way that we can guarantee the seperation of church and state is to remember that the 1st Amendment not only guarantees freedom to practce the religion of your choice it also guarantees freedom from religion. A disturbing thing that keeps coming up in our political campaigns That has no place in American politics is religion. In our original Constitution, long before the First Amendment that guarantees our freedom of religion as well as our freedom from religious domination, Article VI of our Constitution promises,"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." Should we, as citizens of the United States of America, do any less than the Constitution demands of us. Should we, as citizens of the United States of America, do any less than the officers and representatives we appoint and elect to serve us. I am one of those rare citizens that has read the Constitution and considers it the greatest and most sacred of American accomplishments and ideals.
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