2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: North Carolina May Declare Official State Religion Under New Bill * * UPDATED * * [View all]freedom fighter jh
(1,782 posts)The First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .."
The First Amendment has been interpreted by the courts to extend to states, but that's a stretch; it does not prohibit a state religion. In fact, "make no law respecting an establishment of religion" could mean Congress can't interfere with a state's right to establish its own religion. Of course it's not Congress but the courts that have prohibited states from establishing religions, but judicial review, the right of courts to strike down laws, is not stated in the Constitution and some people (like Thom Hartmann, who is not a judge or even a lawyer but whom I like to listen to, I guess because I'm not a lawyer either) say judicial review is not a valid interpretation of the Constitution. Therefore "Congress shall make no law" could reasonably have been interpreted to mean "The Federal government shall make no rules" and NC would be in a good position to argue that in accepting the Constitution they did not accept a limitation on establishing a state religion and even that the First Amendment *protects* a state's right to establish a religion, since it keeps the Feds out of the issue.
Personally, I am grateful to live in a system that protects me from having other people's religions imposed on me. But at the same time i think NC may have a valid point.