Interesting quiz

the answer is zero. the constitution does not mention god, a creator, etc, one single, solitary time. the declaration mentions "creator" once. this is a very ambiguous reference, and probably used as an idiom. but the declaration of independence is not the document that forms the government of our country. i promise you, it does not. right. but which god? except that these are all questions of factual knowledge.

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i think at best we can say the deist god. (which deist god? jefferson's own personal one like you say?)but i think a more accurate rendering is a universal and generalized one. it's "THEIR creator" whichever god that may be. the point in saying "their creator" is that it is not specific at all.

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no, it means we have a government that stays out of it. it's that pesky first amendment that lets us, actually. the whole idea of the government not being to legislate religion is that we can choose any religion we want. it's the religious freedom provided for in the first amendment that allows fundamentalist christianity, roman catholicism, lds, hinduism, buddhism, satanism, atheism, and scientology. what makes you think that if the government were to legislate religion, it would be YOUR religion? we protect freedoms universally, not just for specific groups. your freedom to pratice your religion relies on everyone else having the very same freedom, which means the government has to stay out of it all together. because legislating the morality of a specific religion violates the first amendment because it is in effect enforcing the rules of a specific religion over another. our laws in this country have to have a secular purpose. see the lemon test:

quote:

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1. The government's action must have a legitimate secular purpose;
2. The government's action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion; and
3. The government's action must not result in an "excessive entanglement" of the government and religion.

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Lemon v. Kurtzman - Wikipedia

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riverrat, you were participating on this board reasonably for a while. why the sudden lapse into irate fundamentalist nonsense? you know the difference between science and religion, i'm sure.

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try the reverse. we have freedom of religion, meaning, and i'm doing a little more than paraphrasing here, congress cannot make a law regarding religion. the government stays out of religion. that's pretty much what it says. because churches should be making prophets, not profits. a 501(c)3 certifies an organization as not-for-profit. exactly. legally, the "christian" way is not more right than any other religion. we legislate based on secular values. science is secular. it's not legislated, really, either. but it is not a religion, and you know that. science is taught in school because the only objections to it are religious ones. if i have a religion that says psychiatry was founded by an evil space alien to keep us all brainwashed, does a high school psychology class violate the establishment clause?

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yes, and we have a second amendment right to bear arms, too. but you still need a permit to carry a concealed weapon.a 501(c)3 makes it so that church doesn't have to PAY TAXES. that sounds like a benefit, to me. doesn't it. science is not legislated. keep in mind that it's the churches that don't like science, not the other way around. learning science does not establish or detract from religion.

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ok, tell that to rr.This message has been edited by arachnophilia, 02-05-2006 06:58 PM

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