[exmarine]

Well, its not quite 175 years. The incorporation of the 1st Amendment was first addressed in Jones v. City of Opelika - and the doctrine that the 14th prevents the states from infringing upon the protections of the Bill of Rights goes back to the Slaughterhouse Cases in 1873. But these things are only decided by Courts when a case gets to them. There are no cases you can cite to after the passage of the 14th which hold that a State CAN establish a state religion.

I never claimed that a State can establish a state religion, and I would be vehemently opposed to any effort to do so.

[lugsoul]

"I never claimed that a State can establish a state religion, and I would be vehemently opposed to any effort to do so."

You are right, you didn't say that explicitly. What you did say was that the prohibitions of the 1st Amendment apply only to Congress, and not to the states. So what else is there in the U.S. Constitution that would prohibit a state from establishing a state religion?