Logic problem: The founding principles of the U.S. and Christianity.

[Ziploc Surprise]

They want it not so other creeds can stand as equals to them, they wanted so they can pursue their own agenda of atavistic dominance without scrutiny from other creeds.

Right, "atavistic dominance" in the sense of "trying to persuade other people to agree with them". At least for the overwhelming majority of Christians. Remember who Jefferson wrote the "separation of church and state" letter to. It was a religious group, and Jefferson was trying to reassure them.

Personally, I don't see anything in the Bible telling me that I should oppose the First Amendment. I'd note that the approach Jesus, his apostles, and the various other New Testament evangelists took was not to advocate for coercive government action, but to talk, persuade, teach, and minister. If there's a good argument that the Biblical model of conversion is coercion, I'd like to see it, because the notion strikes me as plainly false.

It's good that you believe this. There are many funda mentalist Christians who are trying to "get back to our Christian roots" by infecting our government with as many fundies as possible. Once in office the goal is to push as many pro Fundamentalist Protestant Christian changes as possible. Case in point, in the Texas school system there are many Christians in positions of power. They are trying to enact as many curriculum changes and any other pro Christian changes possible. This article pretty much says it all http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/magazi...wanted=all About 7 or 8 paragraphs down it says quote "there are now seven on the Texas state board who are quite open about the fact that they vote in concert to advance a Christian agenda. “They do vote as a bloc,” Pat Hardy, a board member who considers herself a conservative Republican but who stands apart from the Christian faction, told me. “They work consciously to pull one more vote in with them on an issue so they’ll have a majority.”

It goes further to say quote " they hold that the United States was founded by devout Christians and according to biblical precepts. This belief provides what they consider not only a theological but also, ultimately, a judicial grounding to their positions on social questions. When they proclaim that the United States is a “Christian nation,” they are not referring to the percentage of the population that ticks a certain box in a survey or census but to the country’s roots and the intent of the founders."

The article explains why the fundies have attacked Texas (it's not just because Texas is more friendly to fundies) what happens here seriously effects education elsewhere. I think A mod would kill me if I copied and pasted the text here so you will have to read the article for that.

BTW I wish I had come across this article at the beginning of this thread instead of now, I think it might have cleared up a lot of confusion.