First of all, your writing was amazing i have to say. the way you strung eveything together was nice. :)

But now i have to disagree with the points your making. People are always bringing the founding fathers beleifs into thiswhich i find ridiculous. NO matter what their personal beliefs were, they founded a country that stands for many freedoms, freedom of religion among those. They, Christian or not, founded a country who believes in seperation of state and religion. It is wrong and kind of ignorant to say that America is a Christian country. We are a country of many varying and all accepted religions from many cultures. Prayer being allowed but not forced is very correct in my opinion and i strongly disagree with your claim that teenagers have not to believe in and no moral standards. I, a teenager, am surrounded by people like myself who are morally sound and have faith, even if it doenst match yours.

Though our views differ greatly, i respect your views and think the way you stated those views was pretty good.

I disagree, and ask that you take the time to listen to my opinion as I listened to yours.  Your argument in this article is littered with incorrect information.  Far from supporting Christianity, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights list freedom of religion (as well as separation of church and state) as unalienable rights.  And you are also wrong when you say that prayer is not allowed in schools.  Because of the Constitution, anyone may pray whenever, wherever, and to whomever they like.  It's when you try to enforce one specific religion on a diverse group of people (i.e., students in a public school) that the laws of our country get involved.  If you wish prayer to be a part of your curriculum, I suggest you attend a private, Christian school.

Not only are your facts incorrect, but your own ideas have little support.  The young people of America do have guiding morals.  I myself am agnostic; God is an ambiguous subject for me, something that I haven't figured out if I believe in yet.  Regardless of my religious beliefs, I am a kind-hearted, compassionate teenager who is pretty certain of her identity.  It takes a lot more than a strong faith in God for a teen to know who they are.  As for "nothing to believe in", I find plenty to believe in.  I believe in democracy, individuality, freedom, self-expression, and ethical behavior.  I believe in myself and I believe in others.  Personally, I do not feel the need for any specific religious doctrine to tell me these things.   America is a diverse country, and to suggest that one religion should, or even could, unite us all is ridiculous.

I respect your religion, as I respect all religions.  Just as religious freedom is a right, so is free speech.  Though our own two opinions may be different, all people's opinions--and religions--are important in a democratic society such as the U.S.A.

~RiverSong

This post in quite frankly appalling.

I'm sure that creating a democratic country where the will of the people were more powerful than the personal beliefs of any one man, be they a Founding Father or whoever else, was more important to the signers of our Declaration than creating a religious tyranny. As Thomas Paine said, "Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, religious tyranny is the worst."

In your article, you condemn the change of 1962, but the Founding Fathers would not. They would be proud that the country is so able to adapt. That is what has made this country so great.

Moreover, the Founding Fathers do. Not. Matter. Their personal beliefs are irrelevant. They believed in slavery, and the quote from James Madison that you provided says he did not believe in science, for crying out loud! They are neither infallible, nor are they all-knowing. They belong to a different time, and in some ways, a different country. They understood what America's growth would mean, however, and that's why they created amendments. The purpose was to build a place where democracy and tolerence could live on, and where the people controlled their country. The people of America--not the people of 1789.

With Christian beliefs and a European surname, it may be hard for you to imagine, but non-Christians are already bullied, harrassed, and alienated. Prayer in school would only make problems worse.

Lastly, I disagree with your claim that society has declined since 1962. Today, science has improved, along with education, quality of life, equality, and countless other areas. Asserting values of democracy and equality do not destroy America--it builds America.

Maybe they were all Christians, and maybe they believed that you had to accept Je.sus to avoid going to h.ell. But their private beliefs are irrelevant, because they very clearly stated that those beliefs were not going to be forced on anyone.

You are allowed to pray in school. Anyone who tells you otherwise is taking away your constitutional rights. But if you want your rights, other people must be allowed theirs- which means that you can pray all you want, but you can't make anyone else do the same. Therefore, organized prayer was unconstitutional.