Political Quotes

“first I wish to say the comments of Senator Danforth simply illustrate why he is a valued Member of this body and why, after this year, we are going to miss him. He is absolutely on target. This is--let us label it correctly--compulsory voluntary prayer. It is a strange beast that is being thrust upon us. But it is a beast. The Supreme Court uses what they call the Lemon criteria for determining whether something is constitutional in this area of church and state. Unlike a phrase that is taken out of context from Thomas Jefferson, we do not have an absolute separation of church and state or a wall of separation between church and state. If the local Methodist church is on fire, we call out the fire department. But that same help is there for the Catholic church or the Jewish synagogue, or whatever it might be. But we have, in the Lemon criteria, said that any excessive entanglement between church and state is contrary to the Constitution. And I think this clearly violates what the Supreme Court has said. My father was a Lutheran minister. My brother is a Lutheran minister. I came from a home where I understand the desire of having genuine religion. But genuine religion has to come from the heart. Do not expect the Senate or our schools or some other organization to do what our homes should do, what our churches, our synagogues, and our mosques should do. And when you say that we are required to have voluntary prayer, whose prayer is it?”