From Frederick Clarkson's post on Talk To Action:
The framers of the Constitution were actutely aware of the history of religious warfare and persecution in Europe, and certainly in the 150 years of the colonies. They sought to innoculate the new nation as best they could against such conflicts. They did it in part by proscribing religious tests for public office, as stated in article 6 of the Constitution. This meant that one's religious views, or lack thereof, or changing one's mind about, would be irrelvant to our status as citizens. As a culture, we have sought to create an ethos of respect for this underlying principle.
The religious right in all of their neo-theocratic fervor, have sought to undo all this. Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney in their pursuit of the support of the religious right are doing great damage to alll that we have done as a nation to make the vision of the framers of the Constitution real in the lives of as many Americans as possible.
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