[re: gay marriage in California]
The "separation of church and state" concept is a fabrication. I challenge ANYbody to prove otherwise. There is nowhere in the constitution of the United States that implies either explicitly or implicitly that religion and government should be strictly separated. What it DOES stat is: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." If any implications are to be made, it would be not whether a religious institution exists or not, but exactly which particular religious institution would be in question. Moreover, morals are not necessarily governed by ANY established religion, but by the voice of the people based on their own individual consciences.
[Emphasis mine]
26 comments
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. "
I'm not even American, and even I know that. You fail at being a citizen of your own country.
I am sure the christian fundamentalists would really like to see church and state not separated, but rather have the state in which they live turned into a christian theocracy.
Thanks god that even in america they don´t seem to have the power to force such fundamental changes
The Treaty of Tripoli
"As the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [Muslims] ... it is declared ... that no pretext arising from religious opinion shall ever product an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries....
The Constitution says the government can't endorse, favor or give official credence to any religion (that's what the word "establish" means) and it can't interfere with anyone's exercise of religion. If that's not "separation", then exactly what's left that the government is allowed to do? Thomas Jefferson obviously thought the Constitution's wording and the phrase "separation of church and state" were equivalent and meant the exact same thing. He even said so.
No, no. See, it means that it isn't going to establish or (in theory) favor a particular religion within the government and its lawmaking processes. That's separation of church and state. Thank you for playing.
P.S. Comicartist: Brilliant macro. I'm saving it for future usage!
Yet if Muslim fundies took over and started to declare that everyone should attend mosques, all churches and temples should be burned to the ground, and children should recite Islamic prayers in school, this moron would start screaming about separation of church and state faster than you can say fundie.
Look. Quit hiding behind your mythical diety and state flat-out, with actual supporting evidence and proof, why gay marriage is bad. You get marks off every time you mention God, Jesus, or the Bible, or make up fake statistics. You need a total of 1 to pass the Basic Human Decency course. Go.
And yet I bet you'd still fail.
crazyroper -- One poster said something silly about "activist judges", and how the ruling is an example of "legislating from the bench". Another replied with something about the judges not "upholding Christian morals" or some stupid shit like that, to which yet another pointed out the separation of church and state.
OitN, here, was riffing on that, and posted this little gem. Yes, he got the ToTB treatment.
The U.S. Constitution doesn't explicitly mention patents or copyrights by name, but there is no doubt that Congress has the power to legislate in those areas (see U.S. Const, Art. I, Sec. 8 Cl. 8).
So your petitfoggery won't impress anyone with an actual legal education.
“ There is nowhere in the constitution of the United States that implies either explicitly or implicitly that religion and government should be strictly separated.”
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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