Cafe Talk | Talking Points Memo | Who made Rick Warren God?

Send Comments and News Tips

From: Cafe, Election Central

Who made Rick Warren God?

By Bobbe Latte - August 16, 2008, 8:29PM

How does this forum not violate the Establishment Clause in spirit?

Comments (4)

A thoughtful question. However, the answer is: no. The 1st amendment religious clauses apply to state actors. In the case of this evening's forum, neither candidate is operating as a state actor. There is nothing in 1st amendment jurisprudence that suggests otherwise.

The being said, a reasonable follow up question could be: Does the forum in any way violate election law? It does not based case law to date. There's nothing in the forum that can be construed as advocacy of one candidate over the other. In fact, this evening's forum could be said to represent public debate at its very best.

Posted by merlot
August 16, 2008 9:12 PM | Reply | Permalink

"In fact, this evening's forum could be said to represent public debate at its very best."

...except that a debate involves the candidates listening to, and rebutting, each others' positions in a give-and-take environment. I did not see this evening's program, but it didn't sound like a real debate format.

Posted by Father OKC
August 17, 2008 1:32 AM | Reply | Permalink

The establishment clause does not present churches from participating in the political process.

As Merlot pointed out, the establishment clause, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, prevents governments from funding, sponsoring or promoting religions.

The law prohibits churches, and other tax exempt organizations, from engaging in politics in a partisan manner.

Posted by Chris Brown
August 16, 2008 9:32 PM | Reply | Permalink

Better said than I said it... !!!

Posted by merlot
August 16, 2008 10:13 PM | Reply | Permalink

Coming Soon	January 12-16

Who made Rick Warren God?

Comments (4)

Post a Comment