Actually, I was referring to this one. Directed by Billy Crystal. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250934/
I always understood the separation of church and state as meaning there shall be no state sanctioned religion, not that the government shall divorce itself from all religion or faith, no matter how small the matter. That's why I'm not bothered by nativity scenes or menorahs in public places without equal representation for crescents or buddahs. Then again, I'm neither a lawyer nor particularly religious.
True. Wasn't that because they wanted to ensure they were free - once and for all - from the oppresive/powerful type ways of Anglican church in England?
When Washington was elected the 1st president, they debated what to call him. Some suggested "His Highness," others "His Excellency." They finally settled on "Mr. President" as a means to show the president is just a citizen like the rest of us. They were breaking new ground... There never was a president of the USA before. When it came time for Washington to be sworn in, they were breaking new ground too. Nobody'd ever been sworn in before. Washington grabbed his bible, without giving it 2nd thought, and swore his oath upon it, administered by the chief justice. It was the obvious thing to do. It's been done that way ever since - swear the oath on the bible. Or recently the Koran (who cares, it's the elected person's choice!) Separation of church and state? Right from the get go. NOT. Anyhow, Jefferson wrote the constitution of Virginia, and it included a very harsh (compared) separation of church and state clause. Not a single dime of public money or laws to be used to support religion.
At the same time, the reason many of you folks don't see any problem with it, is because the religions that are being allowed to do such things are the religion you follow. Maybe if you stepped into somebody else's shoes and looked at the world for a bit, you would figure that out. It is very important for the government to not endorse, nor support one religion over another, and maintain that boundry. Secondly, public sites hosting religious festivities should not be paid for by my tax dollar. It is equivelent of giving my money to a cult.
If you imagine me to be in any way religious, you're way off base. For the record, there are plenty of things my tax dollars pay for I think are a crock, just as I'm certain there are for every taxpaying citizen.
All religion is massively subsidized by your tax dollars. We all pay extra for religion's immunity from property tax, income tax...
Or the govt. could tax religion into oblivion, which is fine by some I suppose. The real issue is that there's an income tax at all. It wasn't supposed to be this way.
School vouchers are an indicator of where I stand on this. For instance, I scoff at the idea that school vouchers should not be used to send kids to Catholic schools. I would have no problem with my money being used to fund a voucher so some kid could go to a Jewish school or any other religious school. I never saw that as a state sanctioned religious practice. I'd rather the kid go to a school like that than slip into the bureaucracy of their school system. I think actually, that every college student in America, at least in liberal arts schools, be required to take a religion course. I'm not talking about Intro to New Testament or any other course like that. I'm not looking to convert anyone. I'm thinking like a basic survey course into religion. How these religions were founded, basic practices, what they believe, etc. This way when someone watches somebody like Mitt Romney give a speech mentioned "radical Islamic jihadism," they'll actually know what he's talking about. Colleges pumping out the future politicians, journalists, and lawyers of this world that have no basic knowledge of different religions other than their own do not help any of us.
I didn't support Mitt Romney, I laugh at all those who supported him because he was the only true conservative in the race, and I don't appreciate his blatant, unapologetic shift in views to run for the Presidency, but I dare you to find a more accomplished, qualified, or more intelligent candidate in that race. Perfect score on the SATs, Valedictorian in college, joint MBA/law degree from Harvard, Bain Capital, Governor of Massachusetts, CEO of the Olympics...
He claims to believe in and worship mythical beings. The thing that scares me is I believe he's serious about it. People that far out of touch with reality should not be allowed to operate motor vehicles, never mind run a country.
