If you are going to be a darling of the Teabagger nation charged with defending the Constitution. You might want to actually read it:
WILMINGTON, Del. — Republican Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell of Delaware on Tuesday questioned whether the U.S. Constitution calls for a separation of church and state, appearing to disagree or not know that the First Amendment bars the government from establishing religion.
The exchange came in a debate before an audience of legal scholars and law students at Widener University Law School, as O’Donnell criticized Democratic nominee Chris Coons’ position that teaching creationism in public school would violate the First Amendment by promoting religious doctrine.
Coons said private and parochial schools are free to teach creationism but that “religious doctrine doesn’t belong in our public schools.”
“Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?” O’Donnell asked him.
When Coons responded that the First Amendment bars Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, O’Donnell asked: “You’re telling me that’s in the First Amendment?”
Her comments, in a debate aired on radio station WDEL, generated a buzz in the audience.
“You actually audibly heard the crowd gasp,” Widener University political scientist Wesley Leckrone said after the debate, adding that it raised questions about O’Donnell’s grasp of the Constitution.
Skip,
Hate to point this out, but she was right. Individual states could establish a state religion, and have in the past. Only the Feds are not supposed to establish a state religion. Recently (within the past 100 years) the Supreme Court has decided that individual states can’t establish state religions.
The famous wall of separation between church and state was built by Thomas Jefferson, not the writers of the Constitution, long after the 1st Amendment was ratified (1802, I believe).
It is interesting to read about school prayer being outlawed, and yet the second half of the amendment specifically allows the practice of any religion. How does that work?
I enjoy jumping on people as much as the next guy, but it shows an amazing amount of bias to rip into O’Donnell for something that is a hot topic of debate. How about poking a stick into the eye of her opponent for not knowing what else the Amendment says?
When Wikipedia mentions the controversy, it is not something that someone with a name like Wesley Leckrone should be criticizing. Can you imagine the fun we could have with that specimen of manhood on ICS? I’m guessing his parents wanted to make sure that he died a virgin.
FSD
Oh come on Skippy pull your head out. Look around. LOOK AT THE ACTUAL FOOTAGE.
She asked/demanded that this dufuss point to WHERE IN THE FIRST AMENDMENT IT SPECIFIED SEPARATION BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE and then she went back, stole his lunch, hit him over him over the head and defied him to tell us what the 1st Amendment specified as our RIGHTS and the ONLY one that shitheel could name was the separation of Church and State.
You know, free speech, right to assemble, appeal, free press. Nowhere does it mention separation between church and state.
Only a dramatically twisted sole would think so. you fish!
With that one you really did sink to a new low. skippy stalin is rolling in his grave!
It’s been raining and raining hard all day here in San Diego. I’ve been missing the rain. Heading to the east coast for a week next week and no doubt I’ll be hit with a blizzard of sunshine and beautiful weather.
San Diego?
Lived there for a year before going to Korea..Pacific Beach, a 4 minute walk for me..LaJolla right next door….
beautiful..Gorgeous weather all year ’round…
i had no idea constitutional scholars read your blog, sugar! ;~D xox
A little history lesson on the history of religious tolerance in the USA is, I think, in order.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Americas-True-History-of-Religious-Tolerance.html
Very good summary of how and why we arewhere we are and, I might add, demonstrates, in my humble opinon, the lack of comprehension of the Tea Party Darling.
Her ignorance is indicative of what our schools have produced over the decades.
Jay Leno, a year ago, was interviewing college students at their graduation ceremony and asked questions, like who lives at 1600 Pa Ave. They could not answer.
The Punch Line. They were History Majors…sigh…
Foggy,
If you live near DC do see if you can’t take a tour of the History of Mankind/Darwin exhibit. It’s pretty new and according to the mother docent an awesome display of the ascent of mankind. The chief docent for the project used to walk around with a huge button on her blouse asking “Ask Me About Creation” Could be “Ask me About Darwin”. She was a hoot. I’m pretty sure it’s at Natural History.
There was very little religious tolerance in the colonies that were each launched by the religious maniacs of their time and established in order to maintain a religion that the people daring to take the path thought strongly enough about that they took the path. But those selfsame Colonies Ratified the First Amendment and in fact insisted that the Bill of Rights be incorporated into the Constitution just in order to ensure that no political chicanery was going to render the whole concept and Constitution moot.
Where it has universally become the declaration of Progressives, Communists, their fellow travelling fascists and socialists to order the Masses to Shut the Fuck Up and Sit Down that doesn’t seem to have applied to those who would like to just follow the Constitution and Perhaps the Declaration of Human Rights.
For me, every square inch of America and our territory overseas is the same thing as Speaker’s Corner at Hyde Park. And if they think that free speech is the right to violence why so then do I agree and we’ll outviolent them by a bunch. Violence isn’t free speech and if we agree to that then there is no need to outviolent is there? Peaceably assemble for the purpose of free speech works for me. Violence works into merely breaking the laws against vandalism, robbery, breaking and entering, assault, assault and battery on a peace officer.
Still if you get the chance, check out the Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian. Good stuff and brand new exhibits if you haven’t been there for a while.
That was rich turf for any progressive reply guys. I will be on travel next week.
There are three issues you guys totally missed.
1) The issue of the states having the right to do something banned by the federal government. They can’t-and those who defend that are missing the point. The when federal law and state law are in conflict, federal law, by definition has to win.
2) Second, O’Donnel saying “Where is it in the Constitiution?” is symptomatic of the inability of teabaggers to see the forest for the trees. The anti-establishment clause is a powerful, because there many ways that government can establish religion if it chooses to. What it endorses and what it allows in terms of religious practice means it can be accepted as federally endorsed.
3)And even if you believe that the establishment clause has been mis-interpreted, O’Donnel does not have the smarts to make it because she does not know enough about the issue. Daniel Larison is right when he says,” Of course, one has to know that the establishment clause exists and know what it says before one can criticize its misinterpretation. “
Some years ago on a college bbs I subscribe to there was an individual decrying the fact that someone objected to Christian symbols on public property and in schools. Prayer etc. A year or so later the his local school board composition had changed and majority was other than Christian and replaced Christian symbols, prayer etc with their religious symbols, prayers, etc.
What was only fair and correct the year before was now an abomination. This is the reason the founders wrote the establishemnt clause. To protect and preserve the right of each person to practice their own religion free of interferance.
SCOTUS determines what is the law…It even decided in its infinite wisdom that incarcerating Americans in time of war was justified using that hallowed document.
O’donnell has as much chance of becoming Senator as Skippy has of becoming RNC chairman.
Now I have to get back and watch Sonny Chiba in the ‘Yagyuu Conspiracy” tearing up some black toothed fascist.
Ok, not him directly his assassins.
Damn, Sonny was REALLY good with that swordplay.
Oh dear Skippy you of all oblivious to the realities.
One guy said that the good folk of Utah could impose and to this day impose their religious beliefs statewide. They do you know. Where you live, when I was in high school had incorporated the deep religious beliefs of the majority on the minority and imposed what used to be known as the Blue Laws. You guys play fast and loose with history all the time. You should really try reading it. SCOTUS is being judicially active and has been since Madison but some of that state’s rights stuff persisted long after the war.
2. That women tore the lips off the clowns that attend a law school just like Palin pulled the brains through the nose of all the haters who sneered at here reference to 1773. The left has some remarkably stupid people in it.
3rd point. She made her case just fine. Watching the libprogs scramble to avoid total shame is fun. Idiot candidate named Coons couldn’t even name ONE of the rights enshrined in the First Amendment and you jape at the tea party! Seriously dude, that’s fucked up.
Nothing to say?
Democrat candidate who has zero idea what the first amendment says?
I say it’s rather typical of democrats and their fascist and socialist brethren. Clueless.