http://www.thepiratescove.us/2007/12/05/wtw-religion-haters-at-it-again/ If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:47:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 http://www.thepiratescove.us/2007/12/05/wtw-religion-haters-at-it-again/comment-page-1/#comment-112284 History Matters Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:40:54 +0000 http://www.thepiratescove.us/?p=4852#comment-112284 Well said! The courts started to squeeze religious values, references, and rights from the public square in 1947 in the Everson decision. In it, they quoted Jefferson's metaphor "separation of church and state" but did not rely on the actual text of the First Amendment. Subsequent courts have built on that questionable precedent. These days, no doubt Jefferson's own actions would not pass muster, and the court would disallow them based on Jefferson's own metaphor! I wonder how quickly today's courts would shout "separation of church and state" if the head of a public school system specified that the Holy Bible and the Watts Hymnal be used as the primary reading sources for the kids in school. That is what Jefferson did as president of the Washington, D.C. schools. Jefferson was very wary of a judiciary that would become too powerful and gradually take away more and more of our rights. It's easy to imagine how he would react if his right to endorse a condidate were declared invalid by a court. Well said! The courts started to squeeze religious values, references, and rights from the public square in 1947 in the Everson decision. In it, they quoted Jefferson’s metaphor “separation of church and state” but did not rely on the actual text of the First Amendment. Subsequent courts have built on that questionable precedent. These days, no doubt Jefferson’s own actions would not pass muster, and the court would disallow them based on Jefferson’s own metaphor! I wonder how quickly today’s courts would shout “separation of church and state” if the head of a public school system specified that the Holy Bible and the Watts Hymnal be used as the primary reading sources for the kids in school. That is what Jefferson did as president of the Washington, D.C. schools. Jefferson was very wary of a judiciary that would become too powerful and gradually take away more and more of our rights. It’s easy to imagine how he would react if his right to endorse a condidate were declared invalid by a court.

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