[Coleus]

Of course it is a myth, because those words do not appear in our Constitution.

Since King Henry VIII, all people living in England had to be part of the Anglican Church. So, when our forefathers wrote the Constitution the put in the provision that an American can practice any faith they wished. That's all.

It never said that the government can't mention God or anything like that.

It's all left-wing, liberal-demonCrap spin.

[Media2Powerful]

While it is good to leave religion out of politics, it was never intended by our Framers to leave God out of politics. The left would find the Constitution unconstitutional. It's crazy.

[clikker]

Government officials were required to declare their belief in God even to be allowed to hold a public office until a case in the U.S. Supreme Court called Torcaso v. Watkins (Oct. 1960).

This is forbidden by the Constitution, you know. The last clause of Article 6 of the Constituion clearly states that no religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Birth rates for unwed girls from 15-19; sexually transmitted diseases among 10-14 year olds; pre-marital sex increased; violent crime; adolescent homicide have all gone up considerably from 1961 to the 1990's -- even after taking into account population growth. The Bible, before 1961, was used extensively in curriculum. After the Bible was removed, scholastic aptitude test scores dropped considerably.

These are post hoc arguments -- just because one event occured after another, that does not necessarily mean that the second was caused by the first. You can theorize, but you have not proven that the removal of Bible studies in classrooms has caused those societal maladies. For all you know, these could have been caused by, say, violent video games and parents who never spend time with their children.

Personally, I don't have a problem with prayer in the schools -- like say, for a Bible study class as an elective. But trying to argue that prayer in the classroom will solve society's ills is a little over the top.

[acehai]

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

Seems clear enough to me...

[martian_22]

It appears very simple to me.
Politics and religion are two sides of the same coin of control.
When both are institutionalized, both are subject to misuse.
The will of a people and their god is put at odds by both.

[Tinman]

BTTT

[tberry]

"The "wall" was understood as one-directional; its purpose was to protect the church from the state. The world was not to corrupt the church, yet the church was free to teach the people Biblical values. "

" The people did not want freedom from religion, but freedom of religion"

EXACTLY