Americans United for the Separation of Church is sounding the alarm on the Republican "faith based" initiatives. This initiative completely violates the Constitution, particularly since to date ONLY Christian organizations have been given money.

There is no ambiguity in the line our Founding Fathers drew separating Church and State. Our Founding Fathers were very outspoken in their ideas. For example, Ben Franklin very specifically gave his opinion of government funding of religious institutions:

The floods in the Midwest have continued and I include some information where I can in the Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin sections. Best of luck to all readers in the hard hit areas.

This week I return to an issue I discussed before: Republican cronies litterally killing our troops with no government oversight. This week Democratic Sentor Bob Casey is demanding an investigation of the electrocutions due to bad wiring that have been plaguing our military bases managed by a Hallibruton subsidiary. More below.

The Separation of Church and State does not in any way affect the free practice of religion. Every American is free to worship as they please at home,  at Church, in the community and in other social spaces. The Wall of  Separation only applies to government. The wall protects Christians of  every denomination as well as other faiths from having some other person's religious beliefs forced upon them by some government entity, well meaning or  not.

Moreover, Thomas Jefferson did not invent the concept of the Separation of  Church and State.
Jesus did.

It has recently become fashionable among some Democratic Party consultants to advise candidates not to talk about separation of church and state. Among their publicly stated reasons is that the phrase is not in the Constitution, and it raises "red flags with people of faith."  I have written about how such thinking is identitical to that of the religious right. I was called a lot of names for pointing this out, but the facts remain. I also pointed out that many religious people are not in infact, concerned about the cause and the language of separation, what's more they embrace it. Although these consultants profess to speak for people of faith, here are some they must have overlooked:

If you believe that separation of church and state is the best way to protect and extend religious liberty in the new millennium, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty is your voice in Washington.

Serving fourteen Baptist bodies, the Baptist Joint Committee is a non-profit 501(c)(3) education and advocacy organization that has worked for nearly seventy years promoting religious liberty for all and upholding the principle of church-state separation. Baptists have always understood that the two must go together.

Indeed. In 2005, J. Brent Walker, the Committee's executive director gave a speech at the McAfee School of Theology titled: Answering Ten Lies About Separation of Church and State

As always, elements of the Greater Blogosphere are keeping an eagle eye on the religious right.  In this collection note that while we have been focused on events in Washington, interesting and disturbing events are nevertheless afoot out there in America -- things we might not otherwise hear about. Some of the battles in the culture war are in the courts, some are in the academies, some are in the streets.

The Greater Blogosphere is on the case.

Here is another round-up of recent interesting posts from the Greater Blogosphere -- on the religious right and what people are doing about it.

Getting confirmed to the Supreme Court can be a difficult and highly political process. Associate Justice Samuel Alito certainly understands that as well as anyone. But he also stressed over and over again in his confirmation hearings that he would seek to abide by the law and the constitution, and not by any preconceived political agenda.  

Well, OK. Then why does he want to meet with James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family and one of the top leaders of the Christian Right?