[Dog Gone]

The First Amendment does not apply to the states,

Where do you get this crappy information? I mean, are Freepers this misinformed?? Cripes!

This is not even debatable.

[jwalsh07]

This is not even debatable.

Read post 582. It was debated in Congress 16 more times since 1875. Never able to pass an Amendment with words "Congress and the States shall ......"

Evidently it was debatable. In fact, it was a big ole BONE of contention. :-}

[rwfromkansas]

Oh yes it is debatable. True, the courts today say it is applying to the states.

But, as several posts on here show, such as 491, there is no definite proof that it was originally intended to make the BOR apply to the states. In fact, the evidence seems to go the opposite direction. The Blaine Amendment was rejected even though nobody spoke up and said, "Now wait a minute, why do we even need this with the 14th Amendment?"

[rwfromkansas]

BTW, I got my information from books on the subject, some very liberal in view and pro-separationist.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Regarding established religion, congress shall make no law, and the Federal courts uphold congressional law and protect peoples' constitutional rights. That's in the 1st amendment. Congress does not have the power to tell a state official anything about establishment of religion, even the religion of secularism.

To put it bluntly, it's a state matter if a religious symbol is placed in a state building. Congress can make no law regarding that, and the Federal court is not a lawmaker. But, since leftists want a more powerful court, their professors have been calling the constitution a breathing, living, evolving creature that can be changed, like playdough. They bring up the previous abuses of the Constitution as examples that that it is not a contract.

"It's already been violated, so since it has been raped in the past, it is a whore. Why not violate the whore some more?" This mindset is demented. Our rights are the same as a woman raped in Kosovo. It's sick.