[Dataman]

I find a lot of intent to restrict government power, protect religious freedom and keep the government from becoming the religious power the Framers feared. That's exactly why I read it that way.

The key to understanding your posts can be found in the first two words of the above sentence; subjectivity rules your private world, not objectivity. To say that the Framers feared a religious power is to reveal a vast ignorance of both American history and English history.

[antiRepublicrat]

say that the Framers feared a religious power is to reveal a vast ignorance of both American history and English history.

You really don't know your period. The Framers fully understood how previous governments had treaded on rights for religious reasons. Just read their writings and your history.