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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 968 Views
I'm agnostic but I think they made the right decision - 05/05/2014 08:09:21 PM 559 Views
Yeah, pretty much how I feel *NM* - 06/05/2014 12:27:22 AM 247 Views
Absolutely.....I'm not religious, but I love this decision..... - 06/05/2014 02:36:29 AM 504 Views
I think you're misunderstanding the problem. It's not a question of being "offended" - 06/05/2014 02:43:26 PM 475 Views
But look at what you're advocating for... - 06/05/2014 10:55:56 PM 478 Views
let's not go to extremes - 07/05/2014 12:33:38 AM 484 Views
please point out where constitution calls for a separation of church and state - 07/05/2014 06:44:42 PM 483 Views
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...." - 08/05/2014 12:37:06 AM 447 Views
so the answer no you can't - 08/05/2014 04:50:26 AM 457 Views
Again- it's not about being offended - 07/05/2014 04:02:29 AM 525 Views
America doesn't have seperation of church and state it has freedom of relgion - 07/05/2014 06:42:19 PM 484 Views
Not exactly. - 07/05/2014 07:01:23 PM 478 Views
The words are clear and the intent is well documented - 08/05/2014 05:13:42 AM 478 Views
Yeah, seems sensible. - 05/05/2014 10:08:39 PM 498 Views
Re: Yeah, seems sensible. - 06/05/2014 07:04:01 PM 478 Views
our Constitution expressly prohibits the establishment of religion by government, though - 06/05/2014 09:20:19 PM 471 Views
I couldn't disagree more... - 06/05/2014 10:50:19 PM 478 Views
bad analogy - 07/05/2014 12:19:26 AM 476 Views
But the GOVERNMENT is participating/supporting - 07/05/2014 04:17:32 AM 476 Views
Yeah, I'm aware. - 07/05/2014 07:03:36 AM 481 Views
That's not unreasonable - 06/05/2014 08:01:48 AM 554 Views
There's plenty that I don't want.... - 06/05/2014 10:57:41 PM 512 Views
In Keeping With Tradition Is Terrible Justification - 08/05/2014 03:37:34 AM 508 Views

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