[azhenfud]

"You so quickly resort to name calling, ostensibly in defense of prayer - that is what strikes me as sad and illustrative."

I've a simple question - you can offer a simple answer if you wish. I presume, by your SN, you consider yourself a "reverend"; or does that "REV" stand for "reverse"?. If "REVEREND" - by that, I presume a prerequisite obedience to the Holy Scripture. Is it not safe to conclude your allegiance ought belong first to Christ - if your claim is Christianity - then to the Constitution?

Help me out here, because I'm trying to discern your depth of allegiance since the defense of prayer seems backseat to you.

Or are you merely playing the Devil's Advocate for the sake of discussion?

My questioning comes down to this: How can a "reverend", with clear conscience, not be an advocate for prayer?

[The Red Zone]

Also, St. Paul called some people some un-nice things when they resisted Jesus Christ. "Dogs" is just one of them. Woof, woof, woof????

[PresbyRev]

For the same reason the Old Testament kings were not to perform the functions of the priest.

There are separate spheres for Church and State - the prohibition of the establishment of religion protects religion from the State. The compulsive and coercive power of the State is not something I want to see yoked to religion - I take that stand on both religious and ideological principle.

Plenty of Christians today and in the past have taken precisely the same position. The debate and the struggle over how it works itself out is as old as our Republic.