no the constitution gives nobody the "authority" to ristrict how you practice. it does give employers, groups and individuals not in a government funtion the "right" to restrict how you practice. this is a point that few faithful actually understand. the first amendment prohibits CONGRESS from passing laws that recognize an establishment of religion, no authority given here, or that prohibits the practice thereof, no authority given here either.

few really understand that the constitution is much like the operators manual in your car. it's a "how to" set of instructions that "we the people" wrote to tell the goverment how it will operate the government machinery. all powers, authority and restrictions IN government are contained there. it gives power and authority to the various BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT ONLY. it gives no power whatsoever to employers, organizations or individuals to restrict your right to practice but it does protect their RIGHT to restrict whatever speech or practice they choose in their own homes or places of business. authority must be doled out. a right is something you are born with. the constitution doles out authority to government, protects everybody else's inalieanble rights.

IF the constitution gives STATES and GOVERNMENT the authority to pass laws and those laws RESTRICT how and when I can apply my CHRISTIAN judgment

than the statement about standing by God stands

IF I choose not to 'spare the rod' with my child, and the law is written declaring this illegal,,it is restricting me from following that particular doctrine without penalty

Likewise, if I choose to 'place' children in homes with a mother and father(because of christian values or any other reason), the laws can likewise RESTRICT me from using this criteria when placing children


its really not that big a deal, nor does it require much of a debate
I was just clarifying the statement about what is basically deciding between Gods law or Mans law

a law requiring to not spare the rod has nothing to do with religious practices. has only to do with the childs wellfare and civil rights. ie. physical abuse and assault laws. it's no difference than a law that does not allow a kkk member to practice his beliefs by burning a cross on my lawn. it's not about his beliefs, it's about me not wanting burning crosses on my lawn, ie, vandalism and trespassing laws. laws that may restrict you from placing a child in a christian home, not aware of any such laws, likewise has nothing to do with religion. has to do with discrimination against nonchristian parents.

there is no god's law that i'm aware of. there's only man's law as i see it. the constitution sticks to that premise because though i cannot prove that god does not exist, i can prove that the words god or christian or islam or any other religious reference cannot be found anywhere in the constitution as regards law or anything else.

sigh

if theres no Gods law , by your belief, I guess I will not be able to make my point coming from a standpoint of someone who DOES believe and try to lead a life in accordance with Gods law,,,

quite true. the faithful have never been able to make their point about god with me.

And this is what you call "not wasting anymore time on God", right?

Is this a core value? Deception?

taken out of context to an absurdity. when i spoke of not wasting anymore time on god i was speaking of my search for answers. i'm retired and have nothing but time to waste but i still choose where i'll waste it. here i'm wasting time discussing constitutional law v god's law and i for one am not searching for answers in doing so. your post meets the very definition of the "strawman argument." you state a false premise then continue along the lines of your false premise. is this a core value???

Well, it's obvious you didn't see the question marks so I don't know how you get the notion that it was a strawman.

Anyways, as an Agnostic, how can you be so sure that the human mind is incappable of knowing God?

i said that i THINK the human mind is incapable of knowing god. don't recall saying i'm sure of anything. how could i, me being an agnostic and all??? lol.