Bureaucratic noncompliance with constitutional law and lower federal court misinterpretations of the Supreme Court's decisions in this area were common rebukes in the three days of hearings. Law professor Douglas Laycock, one of the nation's top experts on constitutional law regarding religion, testified that such an amendment would only compound the problem. And the high court is changing its idea that government funding of religious activities automatically violates the Establishment of Religion Clause, he went on to say. Two religious leaders who testified, Rev. James Forbes of Riverside Church in New York City and Rabbi David Saperstein of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, spoke against a religion amendment to the Constitution. Rabbi Saperstein attacked any amendment that would require government money for church activities.
Persecution is like a lion.
It tears the saints to death, but it keep Christianity pure. State established religion, though, is like a bear. It hugs the saints, but it corrupts Christianity. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, has not scheduled any further hearing or meetings on the issue. Then drop it.