NolaAuTiger

I am aware that the "wall of separation between church and state" comes from a private letter written by Jefferson, and that the metaphor has been divined by those who feel religion has no place in the public square. Thanks.

Again, if you posit that the Framers did maintain a separationist view, then point me to what you believe supports your position. Nothing you just said is responsive to that end. This isn't that complicated. You chose to interject. Give a direct response--your thrashing about that strict separation "protects democracy" ain't that.

Why does it make you feel so uncomfortable to acknowledge that the Framers did not maintain a separationist view? If you posit that the Framers did maintain a separationist view, then point me to what you believe supports your position. Can you reconcile your position with, for example, the concluding words of the Presidential oath added by Washington, or the phrase Marshall chose to open Supreme Court sessions with, or the manner in which our First Congress chose to begin legislative session, or our First Congress's decision to enact legislation for paid chaplains in the house and senate, or Washington's first Thanksgiving Proclamation, or the language our First Congress chose when it reenacted the Northwest Territory Ordinance of 1787, or the First Amendment's according religion special constitutional protection?

"No State shall . . . pass any . . . Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts . . ."

Same question as above. ^

Query: Could the bill violate the Constitution's Contract Clause?

Have you ever thought of submitting that the Framers were instead concerned with preventing the establishment of a national church? And, do you know how many years passed before the Establishment Clause was applied to state governments?

I do not believe the Framers maintained a separationist view. Our first President, our first Congress, and our first Court certainly didn’t. I provided multiple examples supporting my position. No one has provided anything to the contrary. Assume what you want; chase rabbits too. But I posed the question, buddy boy.

What evidence do you have that the Framers maintained a separationist view?

It’s okay. I forgive you.

I’m not understanding your point. But damn, I miss you Homer.

I know, ICHY, I know... Now, give me some facepalms.

If citations supporting assertions is an argument from authority, then I plead guilty as charged. Thanks. I will accept that you believe the Framers maintained a separationist view. How do you reconcile that view with the contrary examples that were cited? Alternatively, can you point to anything that supports your view? Do you agree that the Framers, at the very least, acknowledged a supreme being?

Uh, okay?

https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/pdf/03-1693P.ZD Does anything in the first five pages of the above link change your mind?

What if I told you that the Framers of the Constitution did not subscribe to a separationist view?

Deadspin's insurers right now . . .

Have you offered to "help" this repairman? Yes or no? Surely you will write him a check, won't you? Pull money out of your savings account if need be. Put up, or shut up.

@icanthearyou Let me tell you a story. It goes like this: Once upon a time, a grasshopper and an ant lived in a field. All summer long, the grasshopper romped and played, while the ant worked hard under the boiling sun to store up food for the winter. When winter came, the grasshopper was hungry. One cold and rainy day, he went to ask the ant for some food. “What are you, crazy?” the ant said. “I’ve been breaking my back all summer long while you ran around hopping and laughing at me for missing all the fun in life.” “Did I do that?” the grasshopper asked meekly. “Yes! You said I was one of those old-fashioned clods who had missed the whole point of the modern self-realization philosophy.” “Gee, I’m sorry about that,” the grasshopper said. “I didn’t realize you were so sensitive. But surely you are not going to hold that against me at a time like this.” “Well, I don’t hold a grudge—but I do have a long memory.” Just then another ant came along. “Hi, Lefty,” the first ant said. “Hi, George.” “Lefty, do you know what this grasshopper wants me to do? He wants me to give him some of the food I worked for all summer, under the blazing sun.” “I would have thought you would already have volunteered to share with him, without being asked,” Lefty said. “What!!” “When we have disparate shares in the bounty of nature, the least we can do is try to correct the inequity.” “Nature’s bounty, my foot,” George said. “I had to tote this stuff uphill and cross a stream on a log—all the while looking out for ant-eaters. Why couldn’t this lazy bum gather his own food and store it?” “Now, now, George,” Lefty soothed. “Nobody uses the word ‘bum’ anymore. We say ‘the homeless’.” “I say ‘bum’. Anyone who is too lazy to put a roof over his head, who prefers to stand out in this cold rain to doing a little work—” The grasshopper broke in: “I didn’t know it was going to rain like this. The weather forecast said ‘fair and warmer’.” “Fair and warmer?” George sniffed. “That’s what the forecasters told Noah!” Lefty looked pained. “I’m surprised at your callousness, George—your selfishness, your greed.” “Have you gone crazy, Lefty?” “No. On the contrary, I have become educated.” “Sometimes that’s worse, these days.” “Last summer, I followed a trail of cookie crumbs left by some students. It led to a classroom at Ivy University.” “You’ve been to college? No wonder you come back here with all these big words and dumb ideas.” “I disdain to answer that,” Lefty said. “Anyway, it was Professor Murky’s course on Social Justice. He explained how the world’s benefits are unequally distributed.” “The world’s benefits?” George repeated. “The world didn’t carry this food uphill. The world didn’t cross the water on a log. The world isn’t going to be eaten by any ant-eater.” “That’s the narrow way of looking at it,” Lefty said. “If you’re so generous, why don’t you feed this grasshopper?” “I will,” Lefty replied. Then, turning to the grasshopper, he said: “Follow me. I will take you to the government’s shelter, where there will be food and a dry place to sleep.” George gasped. “You’re working for the government now?” “I’m in public service,” Lefty said loftily. “I want to ‘make a difference’ in this world.” “You really have been to college,” George said. “But if you’re such a friend of the grasshopper, why don’t you teach him how to work during the summer and save something for the winter?” “We have no right to change his lifestyle and try to make him like us. That would be cultural imperialism.” George was too stunned to answer. Lefty not only won the argument, he continued to expand his program of shelters for grasshoppers. As word spread, grasshoppers came from miles around. Eventually, some of the younger ants decided to adopt the grasshopper lifestyle. As the older generation of ants passed from the scene, more and more ants joined the grasshoppers, romping and playing in the fields. Finally, all the ants and all the grasshoppers spent all their time enjoying the carefree lifestyle and lived happily ever after—all summer long. Then the winter came…

Yes. I’ve calmed down.

I’m joking. Anyway, happy basketball season.

TO HELL WITH THIS COACHING BUNCH

PREVENT DEFENSE BS!!!!!!!

EFFING CLOWN SHOW!!!

You’re an idiot.