Freedom of Religion ... unless that is; you are a Muslim.

[bip0lar]

Not being from or having visited the States, the sight of rising Christian fundamentalism in conjunction with your internal politics makes my hair prickle. Documentaries like 'Jesus Camp', for example, scare me to the extent of wondering when (and if) the much bigger portion of rational Americans will not only stand up to them, but also take away their political power. The symbolism of ground zero now should be viewed from an entirely secular point of view, in my opinion, only because religious fundamentalism-whether it's christianity, or islam, or judaism- brought those buildings down in the first place. I don't want to say organised religion is bad, so i'll go with the way that religion today is organised is bad. Take away political power from the church (or the mosque, or the temple or the synagogue) and people will understand that their religious beliefs are theirs alone, and they cannot lobby for or against things they happen to find wrong or immoral. And, fortunately enough, in the states you can do that; you have the separation of church and state. Unfortunately, however, those places that have religion and politics intertwined are a different, more difficult matter. In the meantime, take your religious glasses off and do something human/humane for those people who died in an otherwise thriving city and country would be my thought.

--also, i miss the thank you button, cause i'd like to press it Thorne.

[Thorne]

religious fundamentalism-whether it's christianity, or islam, or judaism- brought those buildings down in the first place.

Well said. Fanatical fundamentalism of ANY kind is dangerous.

--also, i miss the thank you button, cause i'd like to press it Thorne.

Just be careful! Some people don't react well to having their buttons pressed! :0

[DuncanONeil]

Up until you got to "you have the separation of church and state" you were doing pretty good. There is a world of misunderstanding of this "so-called" separation. As people think of it does not exist. The Constitutional provision is that the Federal Government can not favor one religion over another nor can they set, or treat one religion as the religion of the land.

Not being from or having visited the States, the sight of rising Christian fundamentalism in conjunction with your internal politics makes my hair prickle. Documentaries like 'Jesus Camp', for example, scare me to the extent of wondering when (and if) the much bigger portion of rational Americans will not only stand up to them, but also take away their political power. The symbolism of ground zero now should be viewed from an entirely secular point of view, in my opinion, only because religious fundamentalism-whether it's christianity, or islam, or judaism- brought those buildings down in the first place. I don't want to say organised religion is bad, so i'll go with the way that religion today is organised is bad. Take away political power from the church (or the mosque, or the temple or the synagogue) and people will understand that their religious beliefs are theirs alone, and they cannot lobby for or against things they happen to find wrong or immoral. And, fortunately enough, in the states you can do that; you have the separation of church and state. Unfortunately, however, those places that have religion and politics intertwined are a different, more difficult matter. In the meantime, take your religious glasses off and do something human/humane for those people who died in an otherwise thriving city and country would be my thought.

--also, i miss the thank you button, cause i'd like to press it Thorne.