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To: PhilipFreneau
"A "state religion" is what the establishment clause is all about. The founders wanted no part of a Church of the United States."

I am the only one of us two citing its words. As an example, you wrote:

"It does not prohibit the establishment of religion; it only prohibits the Congress from respecting the establishment of religion."

Emphasis yours. You left out an entire phrase: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". Emphasis mine. That means they cannot make a law establishing a religion as a state religion of the US. To deny that is to deny the plain meaning of the words.

Are you now ignoring entire parts of actual Amendments to support your case, in addition to ignoring the document itself?

You cited this:""A test in favor of any one denomination of Christians would be to the last degree absurd in the United States. If it were in favor of Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Baptists, or Quakers, it would incapacitate more than three-fourths of the American citizens for any public office and thus degrade them from the rank of free men."

Finally, somthing we agree on. If you read this closely, the man is speaking AGAINST a religious establishment, and for the reasons I bolded. It is what I have been saying...establishing any ONE religion as a government-blessed faith degrades those not of that belief system.

As for Justice Story, it is interesting that you have found just ONE justice who agrees with you, and cite him constantly, as if there were never any other learned jurists who disagreed with him. Pretty weak.

69 posted on 08/16/2004 6:28:29 PM PDT by Long Cut (The Constitution...the NATOPS of America!)
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To: Long Cut

Proclaiming the nation's Christianity is not the establishment of a state controlled religion.


82 posted on 08/16/2004 7:33:30 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
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