BAR wrote:
HK wrote:
BAR wrote:
HK wrote:
Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 07:57:37 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
"Reggie is Here wrote:

I can understand why people are atheist, agnostic and deists.

How do you feel about worshippers of Transcendental Meditative
Catholic Buddhist Fundamentalist Evolutionary Space Monkeys?


I don't care if they have sex with their monkeys, so long as they
don't try to shovel their religious beliefs onto my secular society.
No ayatollahs need apply.

"Your" society is our society and it is not secular.


Uh-huh. We have no state religion or official religious belief in this
country, at least for the moment. I believe in maintaining the
separation of church and state, the prevention of the adoption of any
state religion or state religious belief, the withdrawal of state
subsidies to K-12 religious schools, and the end of tax exemption for
churches. The state should be neutral on matters of belief, and gives
no state privileges or subsidies to religions.

There is no "separation" between church and state in the Constitution,
there is the first amendment. Are you going to throw out the opening and
closing prayers of the House and Senate? Why are the re military
chaplins? Religion is a critical component of our society.



Elegant, ain't it?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


No law. That means no state religion or state religious belief. You are
free to exercise whatever religion you wish, but there is nothing there
saying you can try to shovel it onto me or onto the state.

As for chaplains, I believe their pay and benefits ought to be borne by
religious organizations, not by the taxpayers. But I wouldn't push for
that. That's just my belief.

Yes, I would toss out the opening and closing prayers in Congress.

Your assumption and the assumption of several of the other simpies here
is that I am anti-religion. I am not. I don't give a damn what religion
you practice, so long as you keep it in your church, in your home, and
*out* of my state. I am a disestablishmentarianist.