Quote: For example, the US Congress opens with a Christian prayer, which is exactly what violates the First Amendment.
And which is a wrong thing to do but try (and we talked about this before) , as a member of congress, to criticize this on suggest to stop that practice.....that is political suicide in a country with 'freedom or religion'.
The founding fathers probably also didn't mean it literally....they probably meant ' your free to express your religion as long as it is some hard-core type of Christianity if you want 'make it' socio-economically'.
Quote: That is not how I envision religious liberty.
I think we all agree that people may think or believe what they want. Our difference in opinion is that you don't consider a prayer to be annoying for other people. I personally don't get annoyed quickly but what about church bells, the asking to come to the service in a mosque using loudspeakers, the use of prayer or referiing to God by politicians, the clear influence of religion on law (most clearly abortion and euthanasia but also gay marriage, shops having to stay closed on sundays etc.), religious people trying to influence children, the beeping out of certain words in TV shows and movies...etc.etc.etc. An atheist didn't ask for these things while everything he makes a remark about God not existing he will feel the wrath of the church over him. Religious people often don't seem to realize how much they influence how other people can live their life, and that seeing somebody pray in the open can be just as disturbing for others as using a swearword is for them.