The cases that represent the important epochs in American history did not
grow out of a vacuum. Their roots were in Western culture, of which they
were a part. Most colonial Americans were aware of the biblical accounts of
the great trials - whether real or fictional - of the Judeo-Christian
tradition, including the trials of the Sodomites, of Joseph, of Tamar, and
certainly of Jesus, which led to the central event of Christianity. All
these are part of the collective memory of our culture. So, too, were the
historic trials of Socrates, Galileo, Thomas More, Joan of Arc, the Spanish
Inquisition, and the Star Chamber, as well as the various European
prosecutions of kings, queens, regicides - and more.
Yet America was a new land, whose free population consisted largely of
people (and their descendants) who had chosen to leave the Old World. (Its
slave population, of course, was forcibly removed from Africa, and its
Native population was forcibly subdued, killed, dispersed, and placed on
reservations.) The American trials were considerably different, in many
important respects, from the earlier trials in distant lands. We had no
monarchy or established church that the law was designed to protect.
Instead, we had a written Constitution designed to protect citizens from
the tyranny of governments and churches. . .
SOURCE OF INFORMATION: America On Trial, Inside The Legal Battles that
Transformed Our Nation, Alan M. Dershpwitz. Warner Books (2004) p XVII
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and the discussion group for the above site listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members]
For people in Hampton Roads you are also invited to join
NORFOLK/VA. B. SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE MEETUP GROUP
http://churchandstate.meetup.com/47/
Virginia Chapter Americans United for Separation of Church and State
http://au-va.org/
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
"Dedicated to combatting 'history by sound bite'."
Now including a re-publication of Tom Peters
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE HOME PAGE
and
Audio links to Supreme Court oral arguments and
Speech by civil rights/constitutional lawyer and others.
This site is a member of the following web rings:
Freethought Ring--&--Freethought, Religion & Beliefs Ring
The First Amendment Ring--&--The Church-State Ring
American History WebRing--&--The History Ring
Let Freedom Ring--&--Religious Freedom Ring
Law Issues Ring--&--Legal Research Ring
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