Reply #138: You'll need to qualify your response

[mmonk]

on why you think this is inane. The country has always had religious people. Many came here to escape persecution from state endorsed religions. The people that had the most influence of the creation and make up of our democracy, seemed to be children of the enlightenment though. So here, those of the enlightenment and those that were devoutly religious lived primarily together happily (except the years of the "Know Nothings" and the "Aliens and Sedition Act") until the 19th century during the Civil War era and beyond.

The rise of fundamentalism saw a rise in conflict between church and state issues. Whether it be conflicts about slavery or the Scopes Monkey Trials or prohibition. It has stayed with us in one form or another ever since.

I'm interested in a studied reply to this opinion.