Replies

I was speaking in general terms.

I see, I understand you to say that you have no evidence that the U. S. Government during the Early Years of the Republic erected religious displays. If you ever find evidence that the U. S. Government, during the Early Years of the Republic, erected religious displays please pass that information to me. Thanks.

The fact that the United States Congress had it's own chaplains, (who I assume possessed and read from Bibles.

I would not assume anything regarding the duties of the Chaplains to the First U. S. Congress during the Early Years. It is pure myth that the Chaplains were elected by the First Congress to say a prayer to open each daily session of Congress.

According to the historical evidence, all the Chaplains to Congress ever did for the First U. S. Congress was perform one prayer service in St. Paul's Chapel on the day of Washington's first inauguration and a few (a very view) "morning prayers" for any Congressmen who wanted to arrive a half hour before the time the previous session was adjourned to at the previous session. James Madison wrote that the services [whatever type of services they were and however often they were conducted] performed by the Chaplains to Congress degenerated into "a scanty attendance" and "a tiresome formality."

negates any notion of Mr. J's

Please explain to me how something Congress does could possibly negate whatever was in Jefferson's mind.

desire to expunge any and all references to religion from the public domain.

Jefferson wanted to expunge all civil authority over the things that are God's. If a reference to religion (or any other type of reference) by the U. S. Government was part and parcel of an assumption of civil authority over religion, then Jefferson would have wanted it expunged.

I see, I understand you to say that you have no evidence that the U. S. Government during the Early Years of the Republic erected religious displays. If you ever find evidence that the U. S. Government, during the Early Years of the Republic, erected religious displays please pass that information to me. Thanks

I never stated, nor implied, that the gov't did. That is your misinterpretation of my remarks.
...and you may apply that last sentence above to your other replies to my posts.