Democracy...

[Tim May]

At 9:09 PM -0700 9/15/98, Jaeger wrote:
>well, the first amendment is what I expected to be used...
>unfortunately, the phrase "...wall of separation between church and
>state" is not taken from the first amendment.  It is taken from a letter
>written by Thomas Jefferson...  and the meaning is not that church
>shouldn't have an effect on the state.  The state CAN support one
>religion over another.

Ah, it's the appearance of a new ranter arguing for some bizarre,
idiosyncratic interpretation of the Bill of Rights and suchlike. Mr.
Jaeger, meet Mr. Choate.

Your notion that the state can support one religion over another so long as
it does not "restrict" the other will surely be news to the many who have
studied this issue for centuries. In particular, all those legal decisions
which got Christian manger scenes removed from public buildings, and which
got "Jesus Loves Sinners, Even Jews" removed from our coinage, will surely
now have to be reversed.

 > The state CAN make laws that encourage the practice of any one
>particular religion, as long as the laws do not RESTRICT the PRACTICE of
>other religions.


Bizarre. Try Ritalin. This has helped some list members cope.

--Tim May


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