tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3537168462652802737.post6961137229546004159..comments2019-06-17T10:34:31.847-05:00Comments on Winsomebulldog: Are You Ready for Some Football (and Religion?)winsomebulldoghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03199345831147984626noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3537168462652802737.post-37006557385296203232011-02-07T09:05:19.964-06:002011-02-07T09:05:19.964-06:00I trust you are not intentionally disparaging our ...I trust you are not intentionally disparaging our nation's founding principles and religious heritage.<br /><br />The truth is that church state separation is central to America's founding principles and faith heritage ... in reaction to the theocracies of colonial America, where "Christian" colonies persecuted and even killed citizens who refused to embrace the official state faith or obey the official religious laws.<br /><br />In 1644, Baptist Roger Williams (persecuted by Massachusetts' "Christian" colonial theocrats, who considered Baptists heretical) called for a "wall of separation" between church and state. Baptists' "wall of separation" would prevent government from interfering with the free exercise of religion, and prevent government from incorporating religion into governance. <br /><br />Generations of Baptists were persecuted, and shed blood, in the fight (against colonial theocracies) to separate church and state. Their triumph finally came in the enactment of the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, establishing the Baptist vision of a "wall of separation" between church and state.<br /><br />Deniers of church state separation often respond that the phrase "wall of separation" is not in the U. S. Constitution. Well, neither is the word "Trinity" in the Bible, but most deniers of church state separation probably believe in the Trinity.<br /><br />More importantly, Christians of the late 18th and early 19th centuries clearly understood that the First Amendment wording - "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" - separated church from state. Their testimony bears much more weight than the fabricated history loved by many modern conservative Christians and politicians. <br /><br />Make no mistake: denying church state separation mocks our nation's founding principles and faith heritage. Church state separation was good for America in 1791, and it is good for America now. To see the problems of merging church and state, look to the Middle East, where conservative religious law (Sharia Law, based on the biblical Old Testament) rules. <br /><br />Church state separation is a liberal, and American, moral value of which we all can be proud.<br /><br />Bruce Gourley<br />Director<br />Baptist History & Heritage Society<br />www.baptisthistory.org<br />www.wallofseparation.usBruce Gourleyhttp://www.baptisthistory.orgnoreply@blogger.com