For 2A in particular

[bresamil]

Got this as an email - pictures didn't translate over. This was an Andy Rooney column.


AGREE OR DELETE?




DID YOU KNOW? As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U.S. Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view . it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments!




.
DID YOU KNOW?
As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.



DID YOU KNOW?

As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall,
right above where the Supreme Court judges sit,
a display of the Ten Commandments!




DID YOU KNOW?



There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C.

DID YOU KNOW?


James Madison, the fourth president, known as "The Father of Our Constitution" made the following statement:

"We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

DID YOU KNOW?



Patrick Henry, that patriot and Founding Father of our country said:
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ".


DID YOU KNOW?

Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher, whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.


DID YOU KNOW?



Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members of the established orthodox churches in the colonies.


DID YOU KNOW?

Thomas Jefferson worried that the Courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpreting the law would begin making law . an oligarchy .


the rule of few over many.


DID YOU KNOW?


The very first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said:





"Americans should select and prefer Christians as their rulers."


How, then, have we gotten to the point that everything we have done for 220 years in this country is now suddenly wrong and unconstitutional?

Let's put it around the world and let the world see and remember what this great country was built on.



Chamber , US House of Representatives

I was asked to send this on if I agreed or delete if I didn't. Now it is your turn.....
It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore, it is very hard to understand why there is such a mess about having the Ten Commandments on display or "In God We Trust" on our money and having God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the other 14% to Sit Down and SHUT UP!!!

If you agree, pass this on













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[Tonio]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/capital.asp

The items included in the piece quoted below demonstrate a government endorsement of Judeo-Christian tradition: False.

Although the intent of this piece is presumably to demonstrate a government endorsement of Judeo-Christian tradition through the symbols and words used in U.S. federal buildings and the writings of America's founding fathers, nearly all of the information its presents is inaccurate or — when taken in its proper context — misleading.

 

[Bustem' Down]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/capital.asp

You take the fun out of everything.

 

[2ndAmendment]

As Tonio has pointed out in his reference to snopes, some of those are true and some are distortions. Most of the founders were Christians. It is true the colonies, with the exception of Georgia, were founded by those looking for religious freedom. Georgia was a penal colony.

The "politically correct" among us want to rewrite history and deny that this country was founded on Christian principles, but it was. The First Amendment has been distorted as making a wall of "separation of church and state". Here is the First Amendment.

Amendment I (1791)

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.

It is only a limit on Congress. It does not limit the states or localities in any way. Any reading imputing greater meaning is done as distortion of fact. Matter of fact, any ruling prohibiting the free exercise of religion, i.e. the displaying of the Ten Commandments in an office, even the office of a Federal worker, is a violation of the original intent of the First Amendment.

 

[Tonio]

The "politically correct" among us want to rewrite history and deny that this country was founded on Christian principles.

"Christian principles" sounds too vague to me. I've never understood what that phrase means. For one thing, I don't see democracy as exclusive to Christianity.

Matter of fact, any ruling prohibiting the free exercise of religion, i.e. the displaying of the Ten Commandments in an office, even the office of a Federal worker, is a violation of the original intent of the First Amendment.

I agree with you in part. Nothing should prevent an individual federal employee from displaying a crucifix or a Star of David or a Buddha in his or her own cube. If there are federal regulations that prevent that, those rules should be stripped from the code. It's wrong for bureaucrats to prevent that, and I think they do that out of fear of being sued by the nitwits at the ACLU.

The difference between that and Roy Moore's Commandments monument was that the monument was in a courthouse's public area, where it suggested a clear sectarian purpose and a government endorsement of the Commandments. Why couldn't have Moore just put a smaller version of the monument in his chambers instead?

I see holiday decorations as a whole different issue. I would open courthouse lobbies and other public areas in government buildings to Christmas trees, menorahs, Ramadan, All Souls Day, whatever, as long as the invitation goes out to employees of all religions.

 

[2ndAmendment]

Christian priciples, actually Judeo-Christian priciples: Ten Commandments.

...

The difference between that and Roy Moore's Commandments monument was that the monument was in a courthouse's public area, where it suggested a clear sectarian purpose and a government endorsement of the Commandments. Why couldn't have Moore just put a smaller version of the monument in his chambers instead?
...

But that is a state court. The First Amendment does not limit the states. If Utah wanted to declare Mormonism the state religion, the First Amendment does not prohibit Utah from doing so. Likewise, if New York wanted to make Islam its official religion, the First Amendment does not prohibit that. The First Amendment only puts a limit on Congress. Period. End of story.

Originally, the United States was a place where people could "vote with their feet". If a place did something you didn't like, you moved.

 

[Tonio]

If Utah wanted to declare Mormonism the state religion, the First Amendment does not prohibit Utah from doing so. Likewise, if New York wanted to make Islam its official religion, the First Amendment does not prohibit that.

I've said before that on a philosophical level, I think it's a bad idea for any government anywhere to endorse one religion over others. I don't understand why anyone would find that kind of endorsement to be a good thing.

 

[2ndAmendment]

I've said before that on a philosophical level, I think it's a bad idea for any government anywhere to endorse one religion over others. I don't understand why anyone would find that kind of endorsement to be a good thing.

Didn't say it was a good thing or a bad thing. I said the First Amendment does not limit the states or localities. It only places a limit on Congress.

 

[Bustem' Down]

The question is, what do the individual State constitutions say on the matter?

 

[2ndAmendment]

The question is, what do the individual State constitutions say on the matter?

Ah. The crux of the matter. By your question, you recognize that it is a state's right not a federal dictate.

 

[Bustem' Down]

Ah. The crux of the matter. By your question, you recognize that it is a state's right not a federal dictate.

I'm always for strong states rights and a weak fed. That was how it was intended. But, religion is not strictly separated from government in all states. When Bush was gov. of Texas, he got a a day passed as "Jesus Day". The problem with a strong fed is it wields too much power, and that power by nature breed too much corruption. The fed should deal with international plocies and that be it.