‘That Godless Court’?
An Interview With Church-State Scholar Ron Flowers
Vouchers: tax aid leading religious schools to secularize
http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8007&abbr=cs_
[excerpt]
Q. Your chapter on government aid to religion discusses the phenomenon of
tax aid leading religious schools to secularize. Some religious leaders
today seem to think they can get state aid and still run sectarian
programs. Why in your view is this unrealistic?
A. This is unrealistic because the Establishment Clause prohibits
government from advancing religion. One of the most direct ways of
advancing or promoting anything is to finance it. Even under the current
court’s lax interpretation of the no-establishment principle, government
cannot constitutionally advance or promote religion. Consequently, under
the current “show me the money” attitude of many religious leaders, they
are busy trying to minimize their religious distinctives so they can
receive government funds. This is the insidious nature of seeking
government assistance to conduct religious activities. Because direct
government funding of sectarian religion is impermissible, religious groups
are busy either trying to hide their religious distinctives, which is
dishonest, or doing away with them, which is unfortunate and unfaithful to
their traditions. The process reminds one of the lesson Jesus taught in
Mark 8:36 by means of a rhetorical question: “For what shall it profit a
man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
[end excerpt]
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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 US 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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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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