McDonnell was correct. Here is the wording.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

If you remember your history, immigrants came to this country because England required citizens to join their church. The separation language came from one of the letters written by, if memory serves me correctly, Jefferson.


>We'll see. I hope you are right. As I said, the Republican and Tea Party candidates seem poised to make huge gains, way beyond what minority parties typically pick up in midterm elections.
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>I'm not inclined to let McDonnell off so easily. What she said in the debate was either a misunderstanding of the 1st Amendment or an attempt to redefine it. These are not traits I want in elected officials, no matter what their party affiliation is.
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>>I read numerous times that she was not disputing the protections in the 1st Amendment, but only the exact wording. Hard to know for sure. She could claim anything at this point (as well as her supporters)....
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>>A lot of strange folks running for office this time and getting prime time coverage no less. Most of the fringe elements get relegated to media tidbits only as humor during the elections. This time they are getting prime coverage.
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>>I disagree with you though on what the results will be. I think it will be a minor gain for the Republicans only and it will end up with the typical balance of both parties so that as usual, there is no majority.
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>>>I think I am finally reconciling myself to reality about this week's elections. It's going to be a bloodbath for the Democrats.
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>>>This does not exactly fall in the category of revelations but for some reason I have been holding out hope that it wouldn't be quite as ugly (from the POV of Democrats) as some have been saying. I now think it's going to be exactly that ugly, and maybe more so. The latest polls show Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, trailing a Tea Bag in his reelection race. Another Tea Bag, the lady in Maryland who sees no separation of church and state in the 1st Amendment to the Constitution, is also ahead in the polls. The only suspense is whether the Dems will lose their majorities in the House (likely) and/or Senate (less likely). If President Obama thinks he has faced an obstructionist opposition so far, he hasn't seen anything yet.
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>>>Trivia question: what are the five freedoms guaranteed in the 1st Amendment? You may know four of them but the fifth is a doozy IMO. If you know it without looking it up, my hat is off to you. If you don't want to do research on a weekend, scroll down....
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>>>The right to petition the government.