Originally posted by caltour:I said the megachurches are a threat to secular democracy. They already push for displaying the ten commandments in courthouses, for taxpayer support for christian schools, and for prayer in public schools. These initiatives are all unconstitutional, as they advocate erasing the line between church and state, one of the great principles on which this country was founded. They disrespect not only the constitution; they also disrespect the pluralism and religious tolerance that makes our country strong and stable.
I don't have much time just now, so this will be short. It is indeed the separation of church and state that you love so much that is what allows churches to remain relevant and to wield power as is characterized here in your words.
Specifically regarding public school, it wasn't until the 20th century when the federal gov't became involved in funding and legislating the public school systems that many of the issues of practicing religion in "state sponsored" schools became an issue. As we've seen, society always finds a way around such problems, as is evidenced by the great increase in private schooling and homeschooling and the increasing abandonment of the public school systems by those who have the means. Yes, we Americans love to create what we want! At least we have the freedom to be able to do so. Government by it's very nature always struggles to stay relevant to society, and IMHO the federalization of the schooling systems was the worst route we could have chosen, as all of us can see our public schools are failing to be relevant to society's needs. We must not fall for what seems to be the simplest solution, which is to use the federal gov't to solve the nation's problems. Our strength as a nation lies in the individual states handling their own specific issues. Jefferson often spoke about the "chains of the constitution" in reference to keeping severe limits on the federal gov't. We would be wise to heed his words.
