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You do realize the concept of a separation of church and state is not found in the Constitution, right?
Of course. It is in the 1st Amendment. Not that it makes any difference. Some of the states refused to ratify the Constitution unless the Bill of Rights was presented right behind it. You can try to cloud the issue, but the reality is that the separation was present from the beginning.
You do realize the concept of a separation of church and state is not found in the Constitution, right?
Wrong.
It's there, just not in the same words and not all in the same place.
Only someone ignorant of the body of jurisprudence on this issue would say something like this.
Being that Paul is a medical doctor with no legal background, I'm not terribly surprised.
Personally I have a lot of respect for Paul, he's a good man - but he's just plain wrong about this:
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The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution
That depends on how you construe the 1st and 14th together. Fortunately we have a governmental body whose job it is to do just that, and they say, conclusively, that both you and Paul are just plain wrong.
And if this were a majority Muslim country, you'd be arguing the opposite until you were blue in the face.
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or the writings of our Founding Fathers.
This is just ignorance. Both Madison and Jefferson wrote extensively on this topic.
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On the contrary, our Founders’ political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs.
Sure, including the Deists. Anyway, this only led them to be even more concerned about protecting religious liberty - which requires separation of church and state. Otherwise it is pointless.
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Certainly the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, both replete with references to God, would be aghast at the federal government’s hostility to religion.
Declaration of Independence has no legal significance. References to God do not appear in the Constitution ANYWHERE.
"in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven"
It's there, just not in the same words and not all in the same place.
so you're saying it's not there?
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Originally Posted by mensaguy
Of course. It is in the 1st Amendment. Not that it makes any difference. Some of the states refused to ratify the Constitution unless the Bill of Rights was presented right behind it. You can try to cloud the issue, but the reality is that the separation was present from the beginning.
Ron Paul wrote: The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders’ political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. Certainly the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, both replete with references to God, would be aghast at the federal government’s hostility to religion.
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The 1st Amendment says: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
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How can that be interpreted not to mean a rigid separation of church and state?
The Founding Fathers were quite a diverse group. Some were religious, but some were not. The free thinking exemplified by Franklin and Jefferson, for example, completely contrasts the concept of "strongly informed by their religious beliefs."
Of course, it has already been stated that the word God does not appear in the Constitution even once. The Declaration of Independence is as irrelevant to the functioning of the government as the Articles of Confederation.
Ron Paul wrote: The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders’ political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. Certainly the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, both replete with references to God, would be aghast at the federal government’s hostility to religion.
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The 1st Amendment says: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
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How can that be interpreted not to mean a rigid separation of church and state?
The Founding Fathers were quite a diverse group. Some were religious, but some were not. The free thinking exemplified by Franklin and Jefferson, for example, completely contrasts the concept of "strongly informed by their religious beliefs."
Of course, it has already been stated that the word God does not appear in the Constitution even once. The Declaration of Independence is as irrelevant to the functioning of the government as the Articles of Confederation.
Congress can make no law regarding it. OK.
Now show me where there is to be a "separation of church and state". Or show me where it says that a State cannot have an official state religion (9 of the original 13 did), or that a city cannot have any kind of official display of religion. To this point you've just proven yourself wrong.
Now show me where there is to be a "separation of church and state". Or show me where it says that a State cannot have an official state religion (9 of the original 13 did), or that a city cannot have any kind of official display of religion. To this point you've just proven yourself wrong.
Show me where it says "internet" or "abortion."
You can't find the exact word "privacy" in there either, so does that mean that the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 14th amendments don't work together to create privacy rights of citizens against the government?
This is a boneheaded and incorrect way to study the law. You've proven yourself ignorant by ignoring the existence of the due process clause and the whole body of case law on this topic and that of the applicability of the Bill of Rights to the states and all governmental entities.
I would really like to know where you get your very, very incorrect information about the law.
Bob Jones U?
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