I need unique's boxing icon....

[byronhaverford]

At physical therapy today, I decided to randomly ask people whether they could recite the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States.  I wasn't expecting anyone to be able to (I couldn't do it word-for-word myself), so we moved on to multiple choice.  For each of the following selections, I asked people whether it was part of the

Comments

[alaricmacconnal]

One of the things that gets confused in our country is the difference between "church" and "religion" ... they aren't the same.

[byronhaverford]

I'll bite. Give us a politically-pertinent example!

[alaricmacconnal]

I'll do my best!

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

From wikipedia: Religion is the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or a set of beliefs concerning the origin and purpose of the universe.

The term "church" typically refers to Christianity, but the way I'm using it is as applying to any organized religion.

The first amendment does not prohibit the establishment of a "church" (which is not a set of beliefs, but rather a structure / organization by which a set of beliefs are expressed).

I could be splitting hairs here but I think the distinction is important.

[byronhaverford]

That was an explanation. I want an example. I want to understand where you're going with this.

[alaricmacconnal]

Ah. So, there are a lot of items in our tax code, for example, recognizing "churches" (loosely used) as entities (for instance, as tax-exempt, etc.). The code isn't based on "the belief system", but rather on the structure / organization.

[byronhaverford]

Okay. That's fair. Not a specific Church (capital C), but churches generally.