Amethyst Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Test Your Civics Someone else please tell me I'm not hallucinating about number 2 being the Constitution (the First Amendment and the Establishment Clause, to be specific). Yet when you submit the quiz with that answer, it tells you it's Thomas Jefferson's letters. WTF? Isn't "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" enough of a statement about separation of church and state? I'm guessing not in modern times...sigh... http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/constitution...nt01/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 OK - so the Constitution doesn't actually use the word "wall"... Maybe the folks at MSNBC are just compulsive literalists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted September 27, 2006 Author Share Posted September 27, 2006 OK - so the Constitution doesn't actually use the word "wall"... Maybe the folks at MSNBC are just compulsive literalists. Yeah, probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callyn Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 It's because the actual metaphor comes from Jefferson's letters. I don't think it has anything to do with MSNBC's political views. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 Perhaps, but the main idea of government not interfering does come from the Constitution. The main idea, IMHO, is what counts the most. Without it being in the Constitution, the fundies would get their way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lola Getz Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Someone else please tell me I'm not hallucinating about number 2 being the Constitution (the First Amendment and the Establishment Clause, to be specific). Yet when you submit the quiz with that answer, it tells you it's Thomas Jefferson's letters. WTF? Isn't "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" enough of a statement about separation of church and state? I'm guessing not in modern times...sigh... Well, yeah, the Constitution does say that but the quiz question was specifically asking about the term "wall between Church and State" and that came from Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists, which said in part: "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state." (emphasis mine) They could've worded the question differently though. The question asked about the "idea", not where the exact words came from. No wonder so many people got it wrong. Likewise the last question, the one about what the government's biggest pay-out is. I selected "military" but the correct answer was "social security". Military is the government's biggest budget item, which is why I chose it for my answer - but "military" isn't a "government pay-out" in the sense that social security is. Tricky wording. I realize that I completely contradicted myself in my last answer to you (in my first and third paragraphs)! In my first paragraph I said that the question asked about the term ("wall between church and state"), and I meant to change that before I posted. I meant to say - as I eventually did in my third paragraph - that the question was badly worded. It asked about the "idea" but what it was really asking was where did the specific term "wall between church and state" originate. My bad. I haven't had any coffee yet this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellincoffee Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 I missed the last question, the one about government spending. Who knew social security is more expensive than the military? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuaiDan Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 Could be that where it appeared first (TJ's letters) is the most correct answer. But, IMMSMC, then the most correct answer would be the Magna Carta. Of course that's just a non-googled educated guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted October 1, 2006 Author Share Posted October 1, 2006 The Magna Carta was English, not American. And it guaranteed the freedom of the English church, not freedom of religion in general. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_carta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuaiDan Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 I never said it was American. Neither was Saddam Hussein, but there's a question about him on that Civics quiz. Always a wiseapple trying to impress...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I missed the last question, the one about government spending. Who knew social security is more expensive than the military? It isn't. They worded the questions "cleverly" to misdirect the attention of those taking the quiz. Likewise the last question, the one about what the government's biggest pay-out is. I selected "military" but the correct answer was "social security". Military is the government's biggest budget item, which is why I chose it for my answer - but "military" isn't a "government pay-out" in the sense that social security is. Tricky wording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuaiDan Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 It isn't. They worded the questions "cleverly" to misdirect the attention of those taking the quiz. Just the way good propaganda should be. Fuck you, msnbc. *To its credit, msnbc does host Keith Olberman, a brilliant orator who is virulently anti-Bush, rumsfeld, cheney et al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadouKen24 Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 Personally, I prefer to look to Madison's writings to see the idea of the separation of church and state laid out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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