Comments on: Bishop Tobin asks if Rhode Island has lost her soul

By: aillyn

aillyn — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 03:44:55 +0000

Yes, I come from a family where my parents were of mixed religious beliefs. My mom’s is Roman Catholic and my dad’s was presbytarian, I believe, his mom (my grandmother) was from Nova Scotia, and that is what she was raised as. I attended a catholic school from k-8. So, we were Christian as a family, but my mom’s side (Roman Catholic) was mostly what I was taught, as an adult I decided to become a United Methodist, and I feel very happy with it.

By: Joe in Canada

Joe in Canada — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:10:44 +0000

Why should Christians regret that? In Manitoba in Canada, the Catholic Church, which has a constitutional right in that province to publicly funded Catholic education, worked with Jews and others to convince the government to fulfill its constitutional obligations. As a result the Manitoba Federation of Independent Schools, which represents independent schools funded by the government, includes Catholic Schools, Jewish schools, a Muslim school, Mennonite schools, etc.

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:34:47 +0000

Yes, and the Christians who fight so hard today to make sure that the government endorses religion in public, in currency, and by funding religious schools and charities will likely be deeply regretting these actions in the future when the government endorses Muslim, Scientologist, and other non-Christian religions, based on the unfortunate meme that “there is no need for separation of church and state.”

By: The Merry Catholic

The Merry Catholic — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:21:05 +0000

Regrettably, the current secular interpretation of “separation of chruch and state” was not developed by secularists or atheists. It was the idea of Protestants who were afraid of the growing Catholic parochial school movement. It was their way of blocking any community assistance to the Catholic schools.

I have many dear Evangelical friends who deeply regret today what their ancestors did a few generations ago. People of faith have been “shot in the foot” by other people of faith. (Oops, I used a gun metaphor. Is Chris Matthews gonna get mad at me?)

By: Greg Smith

Greg Smith — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:35:17 +0000

The only reference in the Constitution is in the first amandment “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion nor prohibiting…..” A lot of things the anti religious people have complained about have nothing to do with “making law” including invocations, religious symbols in public employees offices etc.

By: Susan West

Susan West — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:24:20 +0000

Someone does not know their constitution very well, there is no amendment in our constitution stating ANYTHING about separation of church and state. It is found in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association. Our ‘congress’ has seen fit to interpret the first amendment to suit their own desires, primarily to silence the church. It was intended to silence government from interfering in the church! I wish people would learn about their government!