From Hope to Higher Ground: on Welfare & Poverty

First Amendment never intended to shut out voices of faith

The First Amendment is often used illegitimately as a way to shut out the voice of faith in the public square when it was in fact intended to do the opposite. The first Amendment declares that “Congress shall pass no law which respects the establishment” of a specific religion or prohibits the free exercise thereof. Essentially it can be defined in this simple summation: “Government is not to prohibit or prefer a particular religion or faith.” It is not the government’s role, responsibility, or its right to prohibit the expression of one’s faith.

Those of us with faith know that government should guarantee that those expressions will not be prohibited. At the same time, we should be warned that they will not be preferred over another in some official capacity.

The First Amendment was intended to ensure that the voice of government did not drown out the voices of faith.

Source: From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p.154 Jan 4, 2007

The above quotations are from From Hope to Higher Ground 12 STOPs to Restoring America's Greatness, by Mike Huckabee, Jan. 2007. Click here for definitions & background information on Welfare & Poverty. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Mike Huckabee on Welfare & Poverty.
*Candidates and political leaders on Welfare & Poverty:*
*Incoming Obama Administration:* Pres.:Sen.Barack Obama V.P.:Sen.Joe Biden State:Hillary Clinton Staff:Rahm Emanuel Treas.:Tim Geithner DoD:Robert Gates A.G.:Eric Holder DHS:Janet Napolitano DoC:Bill Richardson	*Outgoing Bush Administration:* Pres.:George Bush V.P.:Dick Cheney A.G.:John Ashcroft(2005) DEA:Asa Hutchinson(2005) USDA:Mike Johanns(2007) EPA:Mike Leavitt HUD:Mel Martinez(2003) State:Colin Powell(2005) State:Condoleezza Rice HHS:Tommy Thompson(2005)	*2008 Presidential contenders:* AIP: Frank McEnulty Constitution: Chuck Baldwin GOP: Sen.John McCain GOP VP: Gov.Sarah Palin Green: Rep.Cynthia McKinney Independent: Ralph Nader Liberation: Gloria La Riva Libertarian: Rep.Bob Barr NAIP: Amb.Alan Keyes Socialist: Brian Moore
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