Hey folks! Lionheart seems to have missed more than one very important word in our Constituion--like, all of them. Clearly he has not read the First Amendment lately (if ever), or he would know the phrase "freedom of religion" is not in there.
"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."
And yeah, I'd say freedom from having a specific religion stuffed down your throat pretty much has to be included, or else the "free exercise" clause is meaningless.
As for the intentions of the Founding Fathers...this document, the Constitution, is THE foundational governing document of our country. It supersedes all other laws. If the Founders had intended the country to be a Christian country, or governed by "Christain values" or whatever tripe it is that the revisionist fundies are spouting this week, this document, the Constitution, would say so. Maybe in the preamble, which states:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
But it's not there. It's not anywhere else in the Constitution either. The obvious conclusion is that the Founding Fathers were not founding the country on "christian values." A further reading of these fine gentlemen's opinions about organized religions as a whole, as well as Christianity in particular, confirms this obvious conclusion.
Don't they teach history in schools any more?! If you are going to blather on about the Constitution, you ought to at least read it first!
