:...the separation of church and state that would later be enshrined in the Bill of Rights." The author really needs to read the Bill of Rights. They will find no mention of "separation of church and state", there or in the Constitution. You will find the guarantee of religious freedom in the First Amendment.

Journalists need to at least pretend they are literate.

So you support an American theocracy? How does that not infringe on the religious freedoms of everyone who isn't a part of your religion? Try thinking just once in your life.

@FrankHerbert: Non sequitur a little? How does pointing out that there is no separation of church and state in the constitution imply that someone supports an American theocracy?

@Jonnyboy: Read all the amendments to the original document. There is no mention of separation of church and state. There are 27. Count them.

Look like separation of church and state to me (in the Bill of Rights, which is a part of the constitution) Thanks packrat and jonnyboy.

The words "separation of church and state" don't appear in the actual First Amendment, but the concept is there. One can not properly construe the Constitution without the case law. In 1947, Justice Hugo Black wrote for the Supreme Court: "In the words of Thomas Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect a wall of separation between church and state. Everson v. Board of Education (1947). That wall is sometimes permeable: In Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) the Supreme Court held that "Our prior holdings do not call for total separation between church and state; total separation is not possible in an absolute sense."

It is only in recent years that the metaphorical wall has been questioned, usually by people lacking legal education or people seeking to have their religion deemed the official church.

I wonder if Roger Williams wrote in his shorthand code to protect his privacy. Heresy was a serious offense.

One can not properly construe the Constitution without the case law. /q]

How dare you say context and precedent matter. LOL

Separation of church and state is not in the constitution, what is there is the prevention of the establishment of a state religion.

reading it might help...

It is only in recent years that the metaphorical wall has been questioned, usually by people lacking legal education or people seeking to have their religion deemed the official church.

are you nutters?

then explain how we are all endowed by a creator in the preamble to the constitution... wouldnt they select some other phrase if the two were to be separate?

the BEST is a faded line in a letter discussing it. the wall was between the state being a religion... ie. the theocracy is not legal under the constitution... but religion certainly is allowed... especially given the history of attendance, prayers at congress, and so on...

one reference to a prhase stretched out of shape, and ignoring thousands of stuff ranging from ten commandments on tablets in buildings, menora, and so on... and not just judeo christian, as the yule stuff during xmas is pagan...

then explain how we are all endowed by a creator in the preamble to the constitution... wouldnt they select some other phrase if the two were to be separate?

Oh, dear, no wonder the Constitution is regarded as a piece of toilet paper by our "leaders." It is because so few have bothered to read it.

The bit about a "creator" is not in the Constitution. It was in the Declaration of Independence, written long before the Constitution.

The issue was not about religion, some founding fathers believed in a god or "creator" in their very own personal way. The issue was churches, or the insanity of imposed dogma. The idea was you could personally believe and be a member of any church you pleased, if you pleased. But none was to be established or favored by the state, although Republicans nowadays seem not to care less about that.