(10-09-2011, 09:43 PM)kandrathe Wrote: And, for example, "A federal appeals court recently overturned a lower court ruling that had declared the National Day of Prayer to be unconstitutional." The National Day of Prayer is not a mandate.
The question is not the constitutionality. That should be quite clear - it isn't, and the original ruling said as much. It was overturned on grounds of standing, not interpretation. Apparently having national prayer day foisted on you just isn't damage enough to bring a case, which of course means that it's almost impossible to challenge an obviously unconstitutional act of government. Fun with loopholes!
The separation of church and state has long been more an ideal to aspire to, than anything actually practiced in the United States. The irreligious will continue to have religion foisted upon them by their government for no defensible reason, because religion is treated as definitionally benign and harmless by its defenders, so long as it is "generic" enough to appease the "popular" denominations.
-Jester