So much for separation of church and state

[dellinger63]

George Will as always, says it better than I can............

America would be a more congenial place if it had more amiable atheists who say, as one such did, that "it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."

Some will say Jefferson was a deist, not an atheist. Atheism, however, simply involves having no theism, and deism — belief that a celestial Clockmaker wound up the universe and set it ticking — is too watery a theism to count. Any religion worthy of the name explains, enjoins, and consoles; undemanding deism merely explains, and does this minimally. Deism purports to explain the universe; so does the Big Bang theory, which is not a religion.

Still, Jefferson made statesmanlike accommodations of the public's strong preference for religious observances. As president, he attended Christian services conducted in the House of Representatives. They also were conducted in the Supreme Court chamber and the Treasury building. Jefferson attended a service in the House two days after praising (in an 1802 letter) "a wall of separation between church and state."

Jefferson was no slouch when it came to asserting rights. But Greece's prickly plaintiffs, having taken their town to court, might now ponder his example of relaxed, friendly respect for practices cherished by others and harmless to him.