Ban on discussion of religion or politics prevents film discussion.

[terjeber]

Originally Posted by Merrick

For the record, the oft-quoted "separation of church and state" appears in no founding Federal document, and certainly not the Constitution or any amendment. The phrase "building a wall of separation between church and state" was written by Thomas Jefferson in a January 1, 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association.

You are absolutely correct. Sorta. Article IV says: "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States". Jefferson, probably one of the sharpest people ever wandering around the offices of DC, and a staunch atheist, understood the consequences. Thankfully the Common Law system in the US makes this wall of separation more or less impossible to tear down.

Sadly, the current people claiming to be Republicans, the likes of Bush Jr etc, who have no idea what a Republican is, and who hold very few political views that are in line with what was once the party of ideas used to stand for, have desperately been trying to tear down this wall. This is exceedingly sad, since one of the pillars that the country was built on, albeit a very small pillar, was the security from religious persecution. There is only one way to ensure freedom from religious persecution and that is to have a 100% secular government. This doesn't mean that individuals within it has to be, just the organization it self. A secular government requires a wall as described by Jefferson.

So, given that the US has a Common Law system, and a Common Law system has to look strongly at the intention behind legislation, not just the words used, it is not hard to argue that the US in fact has a legal requirement to maintain a strong, insurmountable wall between religion and state. Thankfully.

This is one of the many things that makes the US a great place to live. No matter how hard the lunatics on the religious right try, they can't make this country into their own version of Afghanistan under Taliban (with a different religion, but who cares?). Oh, and they are trying to do just that. Those of us who live in the US by choice, not by accident of birth, are plenty happy that this wall exists and that it is exceedingly hard to tear down.