Separation of Church and State-an excerpt from...

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   SparklingJewelposted 14 years ago

   Where does the expression, “Separation of Church and State” really come from?
   1. The U.S. Constitution?    No.
   2. First Amendment to the Constitution   No.
   3.  Declaration of Independence?   No.
   4.   Russian Constitution  Yes.
       The Russian constitution states there is to be a separation of church and state.
   
   David Barton is the author of  “Separation of Church & State, What the Founders Meant.” He has done extensive research on this issue. Here is an excerpt:
   
       Many citizens believe that the phrase “separation of church and state” is language found in our governing documents; it is not.
   When the First Amendment was finally approved, it contained two separate clauses on religion, each with an independent scope of action. The first clause (called the Establishment Clause) prohibited the federal government from establishing a single national denomination; the second clause (called the Free Exercise Clause) prohibited the federal government from interfering with the people’s public religious expressions and acknowledgments. Significantly, both clauses restricted the actions of the federal government; neither restricted the actions of citizens. Very simply, the Founding Fathers did now want a single federal denomination to rule America  (“Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion…”), but they did expect basic Biblical principles and values to be present throughout public life and society (“not prohibiting the free exercise thereof”).
       Significantly, for over a century-and-a-half after the First Amendment was ratified, this was the only manner in which it was interpreted. Unfortunately, in recent decades activist courts have dramatically redefined the word “religion” in the First Amendment, giving it a definition found in no dictionary (except the Court’s own privately-written one). The result is that the First Amendment is now used to prohibit the very religious activities that the Founders themselves once encouraged under that same Amendment.
   
   Separation of Church & State, What the Founders Meant
   By David Barton
   800 873 – 2845   www.wallbuilders.com

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      sneakorocksolidposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You're the Grand Prize Winner!!!!!!!!!!! You're right! You're Right! You're Right! Whoa I feel dizzy!

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      ledefensetechposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You're correct, but our nation is little like the one envisioned by the Founders.  We've moved so far away from the foundations of what they intended that it doesn't really matter what the Founders really meant.

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         SparklingJewelposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         But it does matter, and needs to continue to matter for it to matter We need the sense of soul evolution...

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      atomswifeyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Amen and AMEN!!! to this!!!
      very well written! I applaud you and the crowd goes wild~!
      Now take your bow, you deserve it!
      

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   Mishaposted 14 years ago

   LOL Back in Russia we blamed jews for our own problems
   
   Are Russians an equivalent of jews in modern America?

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      SparklingJewelposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think there was any blaming going on, but analysis and comparison with communism, etc...
      
      I certainly don't have a Russian blame thing going on...I love you Misha, more than I do most Americans

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         Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         That's mutual sis, and you know this. I could not help but poking a fun at you though

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            SparklingJewelposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            poke, poke, poke  to you too !!!

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               SparklingJewelposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               we are going to have to meet one day, ya know ?!

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                  Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  Sure we will. In Hell, if everything else fails

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                     SparklingJewelposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     no, I don't believe in hell...won't catch me creating that place !

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      A Texanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Are you bragging about blaming Jews?

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         Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Sure, I always do. Blame and brag, blame and brag

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            A Texanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Just wondering, thanks for clearing that up for me

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   yoshi97posted 14 years ago

   I remember when the Pledge of Allegiance was removed from schools, all for the words 'One nation, under God'. I never saw that as much as a strike against religion, as much as I did a swipe against the forefathers who helped build this nation.
   
   They understood the importance of being united as one nation, but for all of a few words we can no longer speak our allegiance. And yet ... our currency still says 'In God We Trust'. Has anyone ever asked you to pay your debt differently, as they were unwilling to receive a bill with such a statement on it? For me, this is the biggest unity of church and state in existence - and no - it definitely does not go against what the forefathers set in stone.
   
   I want the pledge of allegiance back in schools - even if they must remove the under God part - as I think we really need to see ourselves as a unites nation again, especially in times like these when so many nations have lost favor with us ...

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   SparklingJewelposted 14 years ago

   I know plenty of schools that still do the Pledge, it was not removed...only prayer was "outlawed" in public schools.

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      yoshi97posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      In my junior year it was replaced by a moment of silence ... as it was for many schools in my area. I assumed it was banned in all schools, but I'm pleased to hear it wasn't.

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   coryclarkposted 14 years ago

   You are correct about everything but forgot to mention that the first president to advocate for the separation of Church and state was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802 to answer a letter from them written in October 1801. Click here for a copy of the letter, " http://candst.tripod.com/tnppage/baptist.htm" The letter contains the phrase "wall of separation between church and state," which led to the short-hand for the Establishment Clause that we use today: "Separation of church and state."

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