The 'christian' Right, wrong on the 1st Amendment

[ck4829]

Many people in the 'christian' Right do argue for Separation of Church and State... at the Federal Level.

RW'ers such as David Limbaugh and RJ Rushdoony have said the State is allowed to establish a Church, that basically the Establishment Clause does not apply to government at the State Level.

I think that if this were true, then the US would be very repressive. Let's see why.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

If what the RW'ers say is true, then wouldn't that mean that the State can prohibit freedom of religion, restrict people about what they say, control the press, prohibit people to assemble, and prohibit people from petitioning the government?

I don't think the Founding Fathers intended for that to happen.

[mongo]

1. Well said

and they aren't too hot on freedom of speech either.

[gumby]

2. The "Christian" Right

is WRONG on EVERYTHING.

Period.

[DaveinMD]

3. the 14th amendment

extended the federal protections of the bill of rights to the states. This is largely the basis for most civil rights cases.

[hansberrym]

4. truth is stranger than fiction

http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/30/

"The Court announced its decision in this case without even hearing the arguments of the City of Baltimore. Writing for the unanimous Court, Chief Justice Marshall found that the limitations on government articulated in the Fifth Amendment were specifically intended to limit the powers of the national government. Citing the intent of the framers and the development of the Bill of Rights as an exclusive check on the government in Washington D.C., Marshall argued that the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction in this case since the Fifth Amendment was not applicable to the states."(end quote)



But then the 14th amendment came along and "incorporated" the protections of the Bill of Rights. So it doesn't matter that originally the Bill of Rights applied only to the Federal Government, it applies to all levels now.