 |
SwiftVets.com
Service to Country
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
SBD
Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 1022
|
 Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 1:17 am Post subject: A History Lesson on the Establishment Clause |
 |
|
I responded to this Letter to the Editor with the historical facts that need to be understood my most in this country.
| Quote: | Getting Over the Cross
JOHN RIPPO, SAN DIEGO
May 5, 2006
(Re: "Cross to Bear") What, pray tell, do some San Diegans misunderstand about this issue? Since 1991, courts have been handing the city its hat on the issue over the separation of church and state.
This is a no-brainer and has been since 1789 when we ratified the Constitution that included the establishment clause. Carless echoes the imbecile disbelief of those attached to the symbol who perhaps think that law does not apply to them because religion is some kind of special case. That's what they think in places run by the Taliban, too, but such views skew reality for everyone else. It's also costly.
Everyone likes the cross on Mount Soledad, including me. But I don't like flying in the face of the Constitution and breaking federal law and getting stuck with a $5,000 bill each and every day that the cross stands in defiance of the courts -- and of rationality. San Diego lost this battle and it's time for the overgrown children pointlessly losing to spend their energies elsewhere. |
My response
| Quote: |
True Law Failed Mt. Soledad
SALVATORE D ANNA, SAN DIEGO
May 8, 2006
(Re: letter to the editor, "Getting Over the Cross") Mr. Rippo, I think that you and many other San Diegans need an education on the history of the Establishment Clause. You should read this research paper from the University of Virginia School of Law.
I will quote a little from the paper to give you some quite needed history:
"The modern Establishment Clause dates from Everson v. Board of Education, decided in 1947. In the preceding century and a half, the Supreme Court decided only two cases under that provision, and neither cast a long shadow. Everson, in contrast, set the course of Establishment Clause decisions for two generations."
In other words, the modern Establishment Clause dates back to 1947 and not 1789.
"Begin with the bedrock proposition that the Establishment Clause requires separation of church and state." The provision bars Congress from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion." The phrasing suggests that Congress can neither establish nor disestablish religion.
On this reading, the Establishment Clause adopts no substantive policy regarding separation of church and state, but merely divests the national government of authority on the subject. This interpretation is confirmed by contemporary practice. At the time the First Amendment was adopted, seven of the 14 states maintained government-sponsored churches and several others used various means to advance the Christian religion. With the arguable exception of Rhode Island, no American state could have been found in compliance with the modern understanding of separation of church and state.
It seems odd to think that the states would have adopted, with little discussion and less dispute, a constitutional provision condemning their current practices. "It may be therefore that the original Establishment Clause embraced no substantive conception of the proper relation of church and state but merely reflected a determination that the issue be settled locally."
I think a vote by over 75 percent in favor of keeping the cross qualifies as being settled locally, don't you?
|
SBD
note: BBCode corrected/me#1 |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Navy wife
Research Director
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 353
Location: Arlington, VA & Ft. Worth, TX
|
| Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Great letter, Sal! I hope they publish it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
GenrXr
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 05 Aug 2004
Posts: 1720
Location: Houston
|
| Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 3:32 am Post subject: |
|
|
You are a good writer SBD. Write more!
Provide footnotes in future. You might assume people to know the author of certain words, yet with the whacky left today, best to note everything.
_________________
"An activist is the person who cleans up the water, not the one claiming its dirty."
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing." Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Founder of Conservative Philosophy
Last edited by GenrXr on Tue May 09, 2006 6:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SBD
Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 1022
|
| Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 5:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Navy wife wrote: | | Great letter, Sal! I hope they publish it. |
Already Published
SBD |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
BuffaloJack
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 1637
Location: Buffalo, New York
|
| Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 11:11 am Post subject: |
|
|
Well Done! SBD.
This arguement has the potential of being a very sharp thorn in the side of the liberals.
Jack
_________________
Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
