[billbears]

Actually Keith it's not in the Constitution and until the 14th Amendment, states had the right to establish their official churches and require leaders to be not only of a certain moral character but also testify to the belief in God Almighty(check some of the state constitutions i.e. Missouri, Maryland, North Carolina, etc)

Secondly this very article and some of the commentary is the exact reason that we were never supposed to vote directly for POTUS. At one time, we were a Republic and not a democracy as established by said Constitution.

[hchutch]

I will not dispute the rationale for the 14th Amendment. Events in Missouri during the 1830s (the extermination order against the Mormons) are but one example as to why the States had to be told not to violate the provisions of Amendments 1 through 10.

IMO, I also am tired of the folks who sit on their hands and stay home. The Democrats will not do so. I won't get everything I want when I want it from the GOP, but I'll get a lot of it eventually. I get little, if any, of what I want from the Democrats.

[Keith]

1) The establishment clause is part of the First Amendment. Most "separation of church and state" rulings are based on an interpretation of that part of the Constitution. 2) we STILL don't vote directly for the POTUS...thank God. Or else Gore would be president today....