Comments on: Don’t Know Much About Washington (or history and economics for that matter)

By: 1982 Randolph NJ Grad

1982 Randolph NJ Grad — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:49:17 +0000

TY for having the server support to take the test. While an engineer for over 20 years, my high school and college education were not a wasted effort on my teacher’s part (ty from one of your “difficult” students). BTW I scored above the average – grin at least for November..

By: Zachariah B. Wiedeman

Zachariah B. Wiedeman — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:09:12 +0000

I agree with jSarek on one point: The author of this article is a victim of its own subject in that he points to a fictitious President Alexander Polk.

On the other hand, jSarek is completely off base for saying that this article is disingenuous. It is jSarek who is disingenuous by misquoting the article. It states that the ORIGIN of the doctrine of separation of church and state is not in the constitution. Origin implies the roots from which the doctrine originated – not where it is most commonly referred to as existing. The most correct answer is that they did originate from Thomas Jefferson’s letters – and that is largely how they came to be included in the constitution in the first place.

I wonder if jSarek would also take umbrage the civics quiz stating that the Declaration of Independence relies most obviously on the political thought of John Locke – when we all KNOW Thomas Jefferson is the real author of the document! *wink*

By: jSarek

jSarek — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:40:47 +0000

Alexander Polk most definitely was not a great president, since we never HAD a president by that name.

James K. Polk, now, is a little more debatable. At least he kept all of his campaign promises . . . but he had to throw a war to do it.

And I consider it disingenuous to claim that “the doctrine of separation of church and state is not in the Constitution but can be found in letters by Thomas Jefferson,” when the very part of the Constitution you quote establishes that doctrine as legal reality. It never uses the exact words, but that’s irrelevant.

By: Janet

Janet — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:02:42 +0000

George Washington’s political thought regarding religious freedom has received almost no scholarly attention. This is unfortunate, for Washington’s words and actions speak to contemporary Establishment Clause and Free Exercise issues. This article sets forth Washington’s understanding of the right to religious liberty.

By: mollymooly

mollymooly — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:45:48 +0000

It’s worth pointing out for those who don’t click through that the test in question is a multiple choice quiz.

(PS: Alexander Polk was not a great president.)