So many backwards concepts are promoted by the politics of the overly faith-promoting.
One of them is the separation of church and state not being a part of the constitution.
And then, we see a legislative attempt to pass a bill that bans Sharia law, as if that's 1) a valid concern, and 2) not hypocritical.
Anyways. Opponents of the separation will sometimes say things like "separation of church and state can't be found at all in the constitution."
Here's one way to respond to this remark, as quoted in this article:
When Bradley and Mercer asked to identify where the words “separation of church and state” could be found in the Constitution, Frank Knaack of the American Civil Liberties Union shot back, “it probably is alongside right to privacy, separation of powers, [and] other understood concepts from the Constitution that do not exist in those words in the Constitution.”
That is a pretty good response.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I find interesting is that Jefferson's famous use of the phrase "separation of church and state" was intended to reassure Baptists who were desperately lobbying to get the language of the Constitution clarified on this point. Baptists in those days were strict separationists, just like the Quakers and Unitarians. But now that Baptists aren't a small minority anymore, Guess who is leading the charge for a "Christian Nation"? That's right: the Baptists. Oh, the twisted webs we weave.
I was pretty impressed with it too. Was almost worried I lost the quote while I was writing this post.
ReplyDeleteHa, well that's ironic of the Baptists. It'd be a good idea to throw that bit of knowledge in to get a laugh from the opposing side (or maybe a rock thrown at you, depending on where you are in the US).