transformation of religion to second (private) fiddle.

Submitted by reeves (United States), Apr 17, 2008 at 17:34

Mr. Pipes' dates are somewhat off. The Catholic Church might have ruled onerously clear up to and into the twentieth century, but America's Founder's put an abrupt stop to a Church-ruled nation here by inserting the single most intelligent clause ever found in a constitutional document - that of separating their new government from any and all religions. The clause, "...the government shall respect no religion," was a very radical and courageous act of making religion free for the people and free from their government.

Thus we here in America have complete freedom of religion, and our government has no say in the matter. Better said, our elected officials may be of many religions, or none, but our government (structurally) is purely secular. Our Constitution was the first in human history to make this separation formal and inclusive in a national government. It is something we all should be mighty proud of.

It is something the Muslim world could and should take a hard look at. It could spell the diffrerence between abcessed poverty and war; between freedom and peace, for their minions. Living side by side with other religious precepts is a way of life in America; something we take for granted and, for the most part, have no problem with. We even share our houses of worship on overflow days. It took a long time for the people to outgrow old, prehistoric prejudices, but with our government's structure leaving that job to the people, we did it. And we are reaping the benefits of tolerance and peace within.

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