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Scalia: Establishment clause doesn’t require government to favor secularism over religion
Canada Free Press ^ | 01/04/16 | Dan Calabrese

Posted on 01/04/2016 8:07:36 AM PST by Sean_Anthony

Which is obvious to anyone not intentionally misreading it.

The real news here is not that Antonin Scalia said this, but that it’s the slightest bit controversial. But that’s not something that happened overnight. The secular left and their media servants have spent decades pushing the idea that the establishment clause is about protecting the non-religious from maniacal Jesus freaks - especially the nightmare scenario in which the Jesus freaks get a job with any public entity and are guided in any decision by biblical principles.

Scalia is a man who actually knows about the founding of the nation and about the thinking behind it. He knows perfectly well that separation of church and state was to prevent the state developing an official state denomination that would be favored over others - as was (and still is, at least nominally) the case in Britain. It was never considered a constitutional imperative that believing in God, or saying so, or being guided by said belief, should be verboten among government officials.


TOPICS: Government; Politics; Religion; Society
KEYWORDS: 1stamendment; 57states; abortion; antoninscalia; deathpanels; establishmentclause; faithandphilosophy; firstamendment; gaykkk; homosexualagenda; indiana; kentucky; kimdavis; libertarians; mediawingofthednc; medicalmarijuana; mikepence; mymuslimfaith; obamacare; partisanmediashills; religion; rfra; secularism; zerocare

1 posted on 01/04/2016 8:07:36 AM PST by Sean_Anthony
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To: Sean_Anthony
Actually, you understate the case against what has been done to our understanding of the First Amendment. It is directed explicitly against Congress. This is not a limitation on State supported religion, but on Congress interfering with any establishment of religion. (Remember, in Colonial times, most of the Colonies had "established" Churches. Congress was forbidden to interfere with such, as well as forbidden to interfere with anyone's free exercise of their Faith.

To better understand what the ACLU has actually been pushing, and the lack of justification for same, see Leftwing Word Games

2 posted on 01/04/2016 8:15:57 AM PST by Ohioan
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
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"Death to America!"


3 posted on 01/04/2016 8:20:38 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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To: Sean_Anthony

bump


4 posted on 01/04/2016 8:21:39 AM PST by GOPJ (The MSM's the thug arm of the Democrat Party. They'll keep a lid on anything that might hurt Hillary)
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To: Sean_Anthony; DoodleDawg
Scalia: Establishment clause doesn't require government to favor secularism over religion

I've been saying that for quite a long time. Some people think the idea is kooky.

5 posted on 01/04/2016 9:26:34 AM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: Sean_Anthony

secularism IS a religious belief

John Dewey described Humanism as our “common faith.” Julian Huxley called it “Religion without Revelation.” The first Humanist Manifesto spoke openly of Humanism as a religion. Many other Humanists could be cited who have acknowledged that Humanism is a religion. In fact, claiming that Humanism was “the new religion” was trendy for at least 100 years, perhaps beginning in 1875 with the publication of The Religion of Humanity by Octavius Brooks Frothingham (1822-1895), son of the distinguished Unitarian clergyman, Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham (1793-1870), pastor of the First Unitarian Church of Boston, 1815-1850. In the 1950’s, Humanists sought and obtained tax-exempt status as religious organizations. Even the Supreme Court of the United States spoke in 1961 of Secular Humanism as a religion. It was a struggle to get atheism accepted as a religion, but it happened. From 1962-1980 this was not a controversial issue
.
But then Christians began to challenge the “establishment of religion” which Secular Humanism in public schools represented. They used the same tactic Atheists had used to challenge prayer and Bible reading under the “Establishment Clause” of the First Amendment. Now the ACLU is involved. Now the question is controversial. Now Secular Humanists have completely reversed their strategy, and claim that Humanism is not at all religious, but is “scientific.”

http://vftonline.org/Patriarchy/definitions/humanism_religion.htm


6 posted on 01/04/2016 9:42:54 AM PST by Bob434
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To: DiogenesLamp
I've been saying that for quite a long time. Some people think the idea is kooky.

I have no idea why you're addressing this to me except for the fact that I've found a lot of your ideas in the past to be kooky.

7 posted on 01/04/2016 9:59:05 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: Ohioan
as well as forbidden to interfere with anyone's free exercise of their Faith.

That's the part that those who claim a 'constitutional separation of church and state' conveniently leave out;

"...nor the free exercise thereof."

8 posted on 01/04/2016 10:13:06 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is simply majoritarianism. It is incompatible with real freedom.)
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To: DoodleDawg
I have no idea why you're addressing this to me except for the fact that I've found a lot of your ideas in the past to be kooky.

In fact, this very one.

9 posted on 01/04/2016 1:46:01 PM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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