Sharron Angle Denounced Separation of Church & State Before It Was Cool
Delaware candidate draws national attention, but Sharron Angle’s position on church-state is far more radical and was articulated long ago
LAS VEGAS – National media spent yesterday in an uproar over Delaware US Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell’s remarks suggesting separation of church and state wasn’t part of the First Amendment to the Constitution. And while O’Donnell ignorantly questioned whether church-state separation was part of the First Amendment, Nevada’s Sharron Angle has actually articulated a far more radical position – to comparatively very little fanfare – earlier in the campaign.
Confronted about her radical position by veteran Nevada journalist Jon Ralston, Angle refused to repudiate her comments that church-state separation was not enshrined in the Constitution, actually doubling down on that assertion. In fact, the minutes of Sharron Angle’s testimony before the Nevada Assemblyon a school choice bill in the 1990s note that Angle called church-state separation an “unconstitutional doctrine.” According to the minutes:
Ms. Sharron Angle, Nye County School Board, spoke representing herself and her constituents in Nye County, and not her school board. Speaking in favor of AB 340, Ms. Angle referred to the bill as a basic step for freedom. The basic issue is the freedom to choose the best education for each child. She believes flaws exist in the bill. Ms. Angle suggested the voucher go with the child rather than to a school. The bill is exclusionary of many private religious schools and Ms. Angle believed that to be an un-American concept, and the tenant of the separation of church and state is an unconstitutional doctrine. She referred to it as a politically correct bias wrapped in appealing language.
That’s right – while Christine O’Donnell demonstrated extreme ignorance in her debate yesterday regarding the First Amendment, Sharron Angle actually understands the First Amendment and the doctrine of church-state separation and thinks it’s unconstitutional.
In fact, the Las Vegas Sun reported in an expansive piece examining Angle’s religious views and their influence on her extreme public policy agenda:
“Indeed, although many Americans view the separation of church and state as one of the keys to the nation’s success as a multicultural society, Angle believes that religion has an expansive role to play in government. And, she has repeatedly said anyone who opposes that based on the claim of separation of church and state misunderstands the Constitution’s ban on ‘establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’”
“With just two weeks remaining until election day, Sharron Angle’s radical belief that church-state separation is an ‘unconstitutional doctrine’ is just one of the many unanswered questions she refuses to address for the voters of Nevada as she hides in her proverbial underground bunker,” said Reid campaign spokesman Kelly Steele. “All Nevadans who believe in the free exercise of religion and the freedom from government interference into their personal religious beliefs should be terrified by Sharron Angle’s radical idea that government should be run according to Biblical law as she sees it – and after four months of hiding, Angle owes Nevadans of all faiths an explanation.”
Sharron Angle Denounced Separation of Church & State Before It Was Cool
Delaware candidate draws national attention, but Sharron Angle’s position on church-state is far more radical and was articulated long ago
LAS VEGAS – National media spent yesterday in an uproar over Delaware US Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell’s remarks suggesting separation of church and state wasn’t part of the First Amendment to the Constitution. And while O’Donnell ignorantly questioned whether church-state separation was part of the First Amendment, Nevada’s Sharron Angle has actually articulated a far more radical position – to comparatively very little fanfare – earlier in the campaign.
Confronted about her radical position by veteran Nevada journalist Jon Ralston, Angle refused to repudiate her comments that church-state separation was not enshrined in the Constitution, actually doubling down on that assertion. In fact, the minutes of Sharron Angle’s testimony before the Nevada Assemblyon a school choice bill in the 1990s note that Angle called church-state separation an “unconstitutional doctrine.” According to the minutes:
Ms. Sharron Angle, Nye County School Board, spoke representing herself and her constituents in Nye County, and not her school board. Speaking in favor of AB 340, Ms. Angle referred to the bill as a basic step for freedom. The basic issue is the freedom to choose the best education for each child. She believes flaws exist in the bill. Ms. Angle suggested the voucher go with the child rather than to a school. The bill is exclusionary of many private religious schools and Ms. Angle believed that to be an un-American concept, and the tenant of the separation of church and state is an unconstitutional doctrine. She referred to it as a politically correct bias wrapped in appealing language.
That’s right – while Christine O’Donnell demonstrated extreme ignorance in her debate yesterday regarding the First Amendment, Sharron Angle actually understands the First Amendment and the doctrine of church-state separation and thinks it’s unconstitutional.
In fact, the Las Vegas Sun reported in an expansive piece examining Angle’s religious views and their influence on her extreme public policy agenda:
“Indeed, although many Americans view the separation of church and state as one of the keys to the nation’s success as a multicultural society, Angle believes that religion has an expansive role to play in government. And, she has repeatedly said anyone who opposes that based on the claim of separation of church and state misunderstands the Constitution’s ban on ‘establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’”
“With just two weeks remaining until election day, Sharron Angle’s radical belief that church-state separation is an ‘unconstitutional doctrine’ is just one of the many unanswered questions she refuses to address for the voters of Nevada as she hides in her proverbial underground bunker,” said Reid campaign spokesman Kelly Steele. “All Nevadans who believe in the free exercise of religion and the freedom from government interference into their personal religious beliefs should be terrified by Sharron Angle’s radical idea that government should be run according to Biblical law as she sees it – and after four months of hiding, Angle owes Nevadans of all faiths an explanation.”
