Re: God in Constitution? #6
buckeyeelo
--- In HRSepCnS@yahoogroups.com, "HumanC wrote:
Published in the November 20 Charleston Post and Courier
http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=53077§ion=faithvalues
Faith & Values
Sunday, November 20, 2005 - Last Updated: 8:14 AM
[ http://www.charleston.net/stories/default_pf.aspx?newsID=53077 ]
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2005 12:00 AM
Writer maintains there's no 'God' in Constitution
Johnson then turned to an inaugural address of George Washington in
which Washington referred to an "Almighty Being." Imagine that! A
politician alluding to a deity (though not explicitly God or Jesus).
After giving instances of similar public acts by politicians, Johnson
asked: "Does it really seem like the people who wrote the Constitution
intended to keep God out of it?"
Well, yes! They were a lot wiser than Johnson gives them credit for
being. They were careful and thoughtful writers. Had they wanted to
put God into the Constitution, they would have done so, specifically
by name. To his credit, Johnson mentioned that several of his examples
are "hints" of God being in the Constitution. He used such hints to
assert that "atheists, legal extremists and other nitpickers tried to
sweep away the Constitution writers' obvious intent." Well, unlike
political utterances, the Constitution really is a legal document, the
law of our land. I admit to being a legal extremist if, by that term,
Johnson means placing more value on the words of the Constitution than
on his opinion of the obvious intent of its writers.
* Christian Orthodoxy And The Founders
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/orthodox.htm
Just as interesting as what Johnson said was what he didn't say. He
ignored the only two references to religion in the Constitution.
Article VI says that "No religious test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
And the First Amendment guarantees that "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof."
Johnson also failed to mention James Madison, affectionately known as
the Father of our Constitution, who said, "The purpose of separation
of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the endless
strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries." Our
founders understood the devastating nature of holy wars. They wisely
established a secular nation whose authority rests with "We the
People" (the first three words of the U.S. Constitution) and not with
"Thou the Deity."
Now the other guy gets hit.
"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from
these shores the endless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in
blood for centuries."
That is a bogus quote
Is it true that Madison said " . . . the purpose of separation of
church and state . . . "
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/quotpurp.htm
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Posting and reading from alt.politics.usa.constitution OR alt.education
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the U.S. and a couple from overseas as well]
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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
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