[CobaltBlue]

Establishment is an old term, meaning in this context a state religion, as Church of England used to be. Several of the colonies had state religions.

As for how the First Amendment and the rest of the Bill of Rights came to apply to the states, that's a long story. I took a poly sci course on this undergrad and it took an entire semester.

[cantfindagoodscreenname]

I think you misunderstood my question. How is it that the terms "establish" and "promote" have come to be used interchangeably?