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Yeah, seems sensible. Legolas Send a noteboard - 05/05/2014 10:08:39 PM

I'm inclined to agree with Alito's point that it really comes down to nitpicking about the way in which the town's employees went about selecting the invited religious leaders - it's one thing to criticize them for that and try to improve the practice, quite another to sue and drag it all the way to the Supreme Court. And they did show good faith by allowing two Jewish prayers, a Baha'i one and, last but not least, a Wicca one (albeit only after the Wicca priestess' particular request to be allowed to do so).

Of course, I say that as a citizen of a country in which priests are paid a wage by the government (as are rabbis, imams and a few other groups). Standards of what is acceptable and what is not in terms of separation of church and state vary widely between countries, depending more on historical factors than anything else - some elements in Belgium or Britain may seem like utterly unacceptable violations of the First Amendment by American standards, despite the US being far more religious than either one, while the reverse also holds. The important thing is that religious minorities are not legally discriminated against and are free to practice their faith.

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SCOTUS - Time to pray at Town Council meetings! - 05/05/2014 06:54:56 PM 909 Views
I'm agnostic but I think they made the right decision - 05/05/2014 08:09:21 PM 518 Views
Yeah, pretty much how I feel *NM* - 06/05/2014 12:27:22 AM 227 Views
Absolutely.....I'm not religious, but I love this decision..... - 06/05/2014 02:36:29 AM 463 Views
I think you're misunderstanding the problem. It's not a question of being "offended" - 06/05/2014 02:43:26 PM 429 Views
But look at what you're advocating for... - 06/05/2014 10:55:56 PM 439 Views
let's not go to extremes - 07/05/2014 12:33:38 AM 438 Views
please point out where constitution calls for a separation of church and state - 07/05/2014 06:44:42 PM 440 Views
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...." - 08/05/2014 12:37:06 AM 398 Views
so the answer no you can't - 08/05/2014 04:50:26 AM 413 Views
Again- it's not about being offended - 07/05/2014 04:02:29 AM 482 Views
America doesn't have seperation of church and state it has freedom of relgion - 07/05/2014 06:42:19 PM 435 Views
Not exactly. - 07/05/2014 07:01:23 PM 431 Views
The words are clear and the intent is well documented - 08/05/2014 05:13:42 AM 437 Views
Yeah, seems sensible. - 05/05/2014 10:08:39 PM 454 Views
Re: Yeah, seems sensible. - 06/05/2014 07:04:01 PM 437 Views
our Constitution expressly prohibits the establishment of religion by government, though - 06/05/2014 09:20:19 PM 427 Views
I couldn't disagree more... - 06/05/2014 10:50:19 PM 437 Views
bad analogy - 07/05/2014 12:19:26 AM 439 Views
But the GOVERNMENT is participating/supporting - 07/05/2014 04:17:32 AM 427 Views
Yeah, I'm aware. - 07/05/2014 07:03:36 AM 436 Views
That's not unreasonable - 06/05/2014 08:01:48 AM 496 Views
There's plenty that I don't want.... - 06/05/2014 10:57:41 PM 475 Views
In Keeping With Tradition Is Terrible Justification - 08/05/2014 03:37:34 AM 460 Views

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