I was referring to a centiry (centuries) back.

I am indeed religious and I, personally do not feel prosecuted at all. Quite the opposite. And I agree with you that First Amendment served religion well.

I am very happy to see religion divested of state power. Power can only corrupt any religion. Does atheism have state power yet? No. At least, not in an active way. But, as state power and influence grows, this power squeezes religion out of the areas where it used to be permitted. State used to be not involved in education, social security, medical services. Now that it's there (and it's a good thing it's there, don't get me wrong), religion has been pushed out.

So far, it has all been in moderation. I can still send my kids to religious schools, or ask my community for help with medical bills. But, if certain forces have their way, I can see religious education abolished as harmful to children. I can see "single payer" medical system that will make privately (iow, religiously) funded medical help unavailable. And so on. This is so far back in the future, I can't see it clearly from here. I am comfortable with where we are now, and a bit more of state-church separation may actually be healthy (such as removal of the word "marriage" from the law of the land). But, if the trend continues, it _may_ lead too far.

You are correct that long-term trends are for an ever-expanding government, that results in an expanding impact from The First Amendment.

I think that you are incorrect in some of your specific worries though. For instance if there is an effective single-payer program in place, I suspect that it would provide more affordable and better care than a private religious equivalent.

I also disagree that the impact on religion is a particularly worrisome aspect of this trend. Far more worrying to me is that the long-term growth of government is signficantly faster than the growth of GNP. I'm aware of some of the reasons why this is so, and don't see how they can easily be reversed. (Certainly nobody has been successful in reversing them...)

What happens when those two curves intersect? Well somewhere before then, the trend has to break. And if there is no easy way to break the trend, then there has to be a painful break. I don't remember exactly when that projected intersection is, but I am pretty sure that it is in this centry, and suspect that it is in my lifetime.

Personally I am far more worried about what kind of pain will be involved in that change, and what will happen afterwards, than I am in secondary impacts from having that much government involvement.

Cheers,
Ben

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