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To: rmlew; Poohbah
1. The Constitution (with its Amendments) is the foundation for our government and the legal system in this country. The Declaration of Independence is arguably a mission statement/the reasons we broke away from England.

The Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers provide some insight, but the final word is what the Constitution says, with the Declaration of Independence as a mission statement/statement of principles.

First and foremost, IMO, are the truths that Jefferson said were self-evident. "All men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights."
Again, I see nothing there that makes any exception based on the basis of religion or culture.

Let me lay it out simply: There is nothing in the Consitution that establishes the United States of America as a Christian nation. If anything, the two provisions (plus the 14th Amendment) I have cited say very clearly that when it comes to religion, there are some basic rules for the federal government and the states:
1. No specific religion is to be singled out for support.
2. No specific religion is to be singled out for restrictions.
3. No person can have his/her religious beliefs dictated to him/her.

2. The quotes really don't matter much. Legally, they are not binding.
108 posted on 12/09/2003 2:28:40 PM PST by hchutch ("I don't see what the big deal is, I really don't." - Major Vic Deakins, USAF (ret.))
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To: hchutch
The Constitution (with its Amendments) is the foundation for our government and the legal system in this country. The Declaration of Independence is arguably a mission statement/the reasons we broke away from England.

I suggest you have a look at Gerber's To Secure These Rights. You might learn a thing or two.

ML/NJ

113 posted on 12/09/2003 5:46:44 PM PST by ml/nj
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To: hchutch
"If anything, the two provisions (plus the 14th Amendment) I have cited say very clearly that when it comes to religion, there are some basic rules for the federal government and the states:
1. No specific religion is to be singled out for support.
2. No specific religion is to be singled out for restrictions.
3. No person can have his/her religious beliefs dictated to him/her."

What happens when a religous doctrine conflicts with those rights and other American civil and criminal law? At the very least, Islam is mysognistic...many of the men treat their women as chattel. Their divorce doctrine is unequal; their ownership doctrine is unequal; and on it goes.
119 posted on 12/09/2003 6:18:47 PM PST by A Navy Vet (government is the problem, not the solution!)
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To: hchutch
No country is simply defined by its laws. Laws do not exist ex nihlio. They are based on beleifs and executed as such. The US was created by former British citizens defending their rights from a King and Parliament which had usurped them. They wrote using political theory from Aristotle to Locke, Polybius to Hume.
The Constitutuion is the primary legal document but was never meant to define this country. The US existed for 12 years before it was written. The States preceeded the consitution, which only defined the federal government.

First and foremost, IMO, are the truths that Jefferson said were self-evident. "All men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." Again, I see nothing there that makes any exception based on the basis of religion or culture.
You don't get it. The concept of individual rights that come from God and not man exist only from a specific tradition: natural law theory from Augustine, Beckett, and Locke.
Today, we have lost this culture. Thus the Constitution is not understood.
Regarding American being a Christian nation, the First Ammendment exists to protect religion from the Federal government. There was no seperation. The Congress that passed teh Bill of Rights, celebrated a religious day of thanksgiving for it!
The First Ammendment was written to prevent a Federal Church and also to protect the arraingments of the states. Thus some had State Churches, others did not.

Even if your leftist revisionist history were correct, it would be irrelevent to the point that Islamists are a threat.

123 posted on 12/09/2003 6:40:20 PM PST by rmlew (Peaceniks and isolationists are objectively pro-Terrorist)
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