I got no beef with Jesus

but I do have big beef with telling other people what they have to believe (comes from growing up Catholic in a highly evangelical area). So I really love the whole idea of "separation of church and state." Love it! It worries me that people out there--probably quite well-meaning -- are espousing the idea that the US was formed as a Christian nation. NOT true. As the Rage Diaries so aptly put it, this is a historically incoorect argument. Check out her post for quotes a'plenty from three of our first four presidents. One of my favorites? James Madison, who said: "What influence in fact have Christian ecclesiastical establishments had on civil society? In many instances they have been upholding the thrones of political tyranny. In no instance have they been seen as the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the clergy." And this: "Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together." C'mon, people. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.