Did you know that James Madison also said:

"What has been the fruits of Christianity? ...Superstition, bigotry and persecution."

Did you know that John Adams said:

"This would be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it."

I'm in the 86% and yet I don't want the Ten Commandments of my God taken in vain by a secular society. So, maybe throw me over with the 14%?

And, who knows? By the time you throw in the separation of church and state fans like Baptists, Anabaptists, some Methodists, Unitarians, and other various members of the 86%, you'll have a much larger group who don't want the Ten Commandments co-opted by The Empire?

Unfortunately, some of the above is not true. For example, all three law givers are facing front. See here and here.

I believe that some of the analysis sorta rips into the thing a little heavily-- the actual writer may have been simply an inexperienced one.
I saw the part about the Capitol Building, and I assumed the writer meant that it was a "Capitol" as in DC govt building-- I was at the Supreme Court myself a couple of weeks ago for a rally and the same week I was all over Capitol Hill doing related stuff.
But now you have my antenna up, and one of the things I'm going to do today is visit the Court and see if I can't take a better look at all the above{assuming I can take a tour today}.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, after I have a closer look, I will post a correction.
Another enriching aspect of my DC experience. :-)

Dan--

I believe that the Bible{both Testaments} played a very large role in shaping both the society and laws that resulted in the founding of this nation, hence a lot of references to God in our original institutions.

I won't argue that there has not been abuse in the form of harsh excesses along the way by governments using religion to shape policy(look at the Church of England, early Catholicism, fundamentalist Islam in all its 'peaceful' glory), but on the whole, particularly in the west, our society has evolved in its benevolent form because of the values taught in the Bible.

I do not see Biblical references, which promote decency, by our government as the merging of church and state. While The Ten Commandments
promote God{I am the lord thy God, Thou shalt have no other gods before me, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain}, they do not tell you which religion you must specifically pursue to worship Him, and the commandments that do not make reference to God promote living as what common sense would define as leading an honest, decent life.

Prayer in public schools, at least from my experience as a young'n, never involved the advocacy of any particular religion, nor was praying even mandatory; There was simply a moment of silence in the classroom.

Today, those same atheists who ban western religion in any form from schools make Koran studies mandatory in many schools. Why is that okay?

Personally, I believe this entire issue of "seperation of church & state" has been blown up to the point of paranoid overreaction by people whose agendas go further than just that issue. The last time religion was ripped away from a society that society became communist, and the countries that followed it down that road did the same, because there is no room for God, Whose existence might share loyalty with govt, in a totalitarian regime. Communism is an extreme form of socialism, and those same people who are waging war on God, in a manner of speaking, are liberals who are fighting tooth and nail to transform the great system of govt we enjoy in America into a socialist one.

And yeah, even though the forward I posted may well turn out, according to PatsRick's comment above, to feature several inaccuracies(which I will address in another post, and put them right where indicated), the majority of Americans believe in including references to God in our national institutions.

That does not mean the govt is being run by a church, it simply confirms that America believes in God. If a minority does not, well, in an environment of democracy, the majority rules.

FYI, I am Jewish. I don't practice as devoutly as I might, though I try to live as I was brought up to live. My point here is that unlike other Jews who are liberals, I fully support the idea of America as a Judeo-Christian society.

Off topic, but.. I like the new look. I thought when you said you were moving, I thought it was out of San Francisco.

Hey, Gordon,

it's both, actually.

Out of squarespace, and out of SF, LOL!

Before the end of this year, I'll own a house on the east coast.

I too escaped from SF after eight years there. The experience left me a hardcore conservative!

Yeah, Gordon, that's what happens when you get to see what it's like when the 2 party system is abandoned for a one party socialist institution. Who needs to move to France when you can live in San Francisco, where a moderate Democrat is viewed as a hard right winger? :)