separation of sense

In the race to the bottom or as we know it the Republican/Tea Party primary to nominate a candidate to run for president, we are told in one ear that what this nation needs is a strong dose of understanding the Constitution. In the other ear we are lectured that only those running for office for president from the Republican/Tea Party really understand the Constitution and what the Founding Fathers were thinking when they wrote the Constitution. We are told that the Constitution is the Law, but the the interpretation of the Constitution should be left up to the men who want to be the next president of this nation. We are told lots of bigoted BS but provided with very little fact.

Most recently in his linty of how America has gone bad, including women’s reproductive rights, Gay anything, higher education, the need for poor people so we can have rich people, the Devil this or that, Rick Santorum now insists that the separation between church and state is Un-American and above all else un God worthy. As he clings on to both his Bible and the Constitution. Mr. Santorum likes to read content from both that does not exist anywhere but his own imagination, loathing and hatred.

Two men, one a president at the time and one a candidate to be president and eventually one elected spoke about the importance and necessity of a division between church and state that makes this country a great democracy. The one man hoping to hype hate, dine on division, and relying on religious bias and bogus, is busy rewriting history and eliminating historical relevance. And the sad thing is the momentum Rick Santorum has garnered in his wake to destroy the personal freedoms of the citizens of our nation.

The first amendment to the US Constitution states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state. In the United States, the term is an offshoot of the phrase, "wall of separation between church and state," as written in Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802. The original text reads: "... I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State." (Freedom.com)

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him. (September 12, 1960, address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, by John F. Kennedy)

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish--where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source--where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials--and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all. (September 12, 1960, address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, by John F. Kennedy)

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum continued to make controversial statements Sunday. The latest is about the separation of church and state, which Santorum says prohibits people of faith from the "public square."

"I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute..."

"Because the first line, first substantive line in the speech says, 'I believe in America where the separation of church and state is absolute," the former Pennsylvania senator said. "You bet that makes you throw up."

Santorum said Kennedy "was trying to tell people of faith that you will do what the government says, we are going to impose our values on you." (Presidential candidate for the Republican/Te Party, Rick Santorum speaking on ABC’s “This Week”.

This IS America 2012? Huh!!!