First Amendment

As we near the Christmas holiday, we hear more and more protests over Christmas symbols on public property and,well, you know the drill.

What's the problem? After 225 years, why are people sill arguing over what the Constitution means?

I believe it all boils down to the definition of the word "religion", as used in the wording of the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof".

What, exactly, did the Framers have in mind? Having read a fair amount of original writings, I conclude they were concerned that America, like most European nations, would establish a "national" church.  
They had seen what President Calvin Coolidge would have seen when, in 1926, he spoke of "entire congregations and their pastors emigrating to the colonies." If you are, say, a Lutheran, and the "National" church is Roman Catholic, you are probably going to feel isolated.

It seems apparent that by "religion" they meant, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Greek Orthodox, or whatever. There is no evidence that the Framers were opposed to religious faith in general.

Today, unfortunately, many people believe the Framers meant to ban anything remotely connected to faith. And, they wrongly believe that "Christianity" represents one or all of those "churches" that follow the Christian philosophy.

In reality, the fact that many churches adhere to the principles of Christianity does not make Christianity a "Religion".

And, so, the beat goes on. People continue to believe that any act or symbol related to a religious faith represents a "religion", which, by virtue of The Constitution, must not be "established". How narrow!