Thread: Separation of church and state

Did the lawmakers intend for the Constitution of the United States to separate religion from the authority of the U. S. Government?

The separation of church and state meant that the government would not establish a state religion and that a religious power would have no say in the government. It has nothing to do with today's insane interpretation that somehow having a Christmas Tree on the Whitehouse lawn somehow violates the Constitution.

Originally Posted by Libre

The separation of church and state meant that the government would not establish a state religion and that a religious power would have no say in the government. It has nothing to do with today's insane interpretation that somehow having a Christmas Tree on the Whitehouse lawn somehow violates the Constitution.

What rules and principles of interpretation did you use to arrive at that conclusion?

Originally Posted by Jack Flash

Did the lawmakers intend for the Constitution of the United States to separate religion from the authority of the U. S. Government?

They intended to remove the authority of the US government from religion.

Originally Posted by Jack Flash

What rules and principles of interpretation did you use to arrive at that conclusion?

None, I simply read most of what the founding fathers wrote on the subject. Novel idea, huh?

Originally Posted by Jack Flash

What rules and principles of interpretation did you use to arrive at that conclusion?

How about the fact that the founding fathers and Presidents for several hundred years added religious language to ceremonies and federal holidays.

How about the fact that the founders did not object to state-wide, established religions.

They didn't care about symbolic forms of "establishment" anyway.

Originally Posted by Libre

None, I simply read most of what the founding fathers wrote on the subject. Novel idea, huh?

What did the lawmakers, as they were actually making the document, say about using the common law rules of construction to ascertain the meaning of the Constitution?

Originally Posted by kmiller1610

How about the fact that the founding fathers and Presidents for several hundred years added religious language to ceremonies and federal holidays.

Show us where the lawmakers indicated that the meaning of the constitution should be gathered from religious language added to ceremonies and federal holidays.

Originally Posted by kmiller1610

the founders did not object to state-wide, established religions.

Yes they did, that's why almost all of them were totally abolished at the commencement of the American Revolution.

Originally Posted by kmiller1610

They didn't care about symbolic forms of "establishment" anyway.

I don't know about that, dude. But, I do know they granted the government no authority whatsoever over religion.