@ jimthomp87: I agree with you completely. I know that I’ve been very resistant to religious expression in places of government, but I think that there is a way that it can be handled so that the majority on both sides are happy. There will always be a few who aren’t, unfortunately.

You are absolutely right! And trumping any treaty or evangelist’s opinion is the Constitution. The Founding Fathers went out of their way NOT to make this a Christian nation, Jewish nation, or any specific religion or denomination. That doesn’t mean we are not a religious people–America is one of the most religious nations in the world precisely because we value and protect religious liberty for all citizens.

The First Amendment’s intent was to secure religious freedom, and to do that the Yard Dog of Government had to be put on a double chain with not one, but two prohibitions:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” (intended to limit government and religious leaders who wanted their views to be the law of the land for everybody),
“or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;…” (which guarantees freedom of religious expression to every citizen).

The “wall of separation” between church and state is being assailed from all sides. Some, like Huckabee, seem to want to tear it down completely. Others, like some outspoken atheists and popular authors, seem to want to make it so tall and thick that there can be no mention of god or religion outside the confines of one’s own home or house of worship—-both groups are wrong.

Religious pluralism–rather than promoting one religion over another–is what America is all about. But that does not mean that religion is banned from public discourse and confined to the private quarters, out of sight from everyone else. While government should not promote or endorse religion, it also should not bar citizens from freely expressing their religious views…even in public.

JimT