People like this forget that separation of church and state was originally implemented for the sake of the various Christian denominations in the 13 colonies. There was a mix of Puritans, Calvinists, Anglicans, Catholics, Quakers, and others, and they couldn't stand each other. To them, freedom of religion meant passing laws forbidding the practice of other forms of Christianity, open harassment of other sects, and yes, persecution of those who didn't fall in line. This is a frequent historical trend in colonial cultures, where a people who were formerly oppressed will try to establish their sense of self worth by turning around and oppressing a weaker group. The First Amendment had wide support among those who were sick of all the infighting, and its passage was meant to ensure the government enforced the laws equally and did not take sides among religious disputes, like the kind so frequently seen in colonial times.
I would expect no more from a family this ignorant, and no less from our government.
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