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Huckabee Forgets the First Amendment of the US Constitution

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damnyanqui2/11/2009 11:28:33 am PST

Oh yes, by all means let’s talk about 19th century triumphs like this one from the Oregon constitution quoted above:

ARTICLE I, SECTION 4: No money shall be drawn from the Treasury for the benefit of any religious or theological institution, nor shall any money be appropriated for the payment of any religious services in either house of the Legislative Assembly.

This is actually a vintage example of a popular religious discrimination initiative known widely as the “Blaine Amendment.” It was not meant to prevent public funds from going to “religous” institutions. It was meant to prevent public funds from going to Catholic religious institutions. The public schools of the time were themselves Christian religious institutions already, Protestant ones.
The sponsors of Blaine amendments in states around the country had no problem with public funds going to them. Back then, “religious” school meant “a religion other than contemporary Protestant Christian.”
Today, the debate is not whether religious institutions should get funds but whether religious institutions should be denied funds available to everyone else.
No one is saying “support religious institutions only and support no others”
This proposal denies support to religious institutions only, while offering it to all others. That is very specifically discrimination against the religious institutions because they are religious institutions.