I went to the Liberal Learning and Religion panel discussion today, and while at some times it was hard to follow the intense constitutional language, I think I got the gist of it. Our founding fathers didn't want to exclude any religion, but came from a background of generally protestantism. So later, when approaching issues of religion, that is what their template was.
What I found most interesting was Professor Casson's talk about religious symbols and their place in a secular state. He discussed how using religious symbolism can get messy when used on public lands. I am reminded of Chicago's Daley Plaza around the holidays. The Plaza is most famous for it's giant Christmas tree, but more recently a large Hannukah menorah has appeared as well as a flame that is supposed to represent the presence of Islam (I believe that's what it was, I don't quite remember).
It makes me wonder... It seems as far as religious symbolism goes you either need to represent all the religions or none of them. That cross in the desert would have more been acceptable if the Jewish Star of David and Islamic Crescent Moon were present as well. But they weren't, which means the symbol was hollowed and made to represent a secular idea instead.
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