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Christine O'Donnell First Amendment Gaffe Video
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by Jordan Yerman | October 19, 2010 at 09:54 am
1596 views | 12 Recommendations | 10 comments
Christine O'Donnell Questions Separation of Church & State
During a debate with Chris Coons at Widener University Law School, Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell was challenging her opponent on the teaching of religion in the classroom, asking, "Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?" (hint: First Amendment).
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The auditorium began to laugh at Christine O'Donnell, who in turn began to laugh as well. You can watch the entire Christine O'Donnell-Chris Coons First Amendment exchange here, and the key moment is viewable below.
While not everyone is expected to have memorized the Constitution of the United States in order to be a responsible citizen, we should have all at least made it past Amendment #1. This sort of mistake would be particularly glaring in front of a roomful of law students.
The exchange came in a debate before an audience of legal scholars and law students at Widener University Law School, as O'Donnell criticized Democratic nominee Chris Coons' position that teaching creationism in public school would violate the First Amendment by promoting religious doctrine.
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Jordan Yerman
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Recommendations (12)
Karen Hatter
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
NowPublic Staff
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (10)
at 11:27 on October 19th, 2010
O'Donnell is right. There is no separation of church and state in the first amendment. The first amendment tells the State that the State cannot create a church and require its citizens to adhere to. It says nothing about keeping the State from adhering to religous beliefs. If you recall that King George created the Church of England and demanded that his subjects belong. When our founders came here, they purposely wrote to avoid this in the future. The shame here is that this law school laughed!! They obviously need further training under the constitution. What at laugh of a law school.
at 12:16 on October 19th, 2010
There is no separation of church and state in the constitution. One of the freedoms guaranteed by the first amendment is that the government will not sponsor any religion, which of course, it is doing by the government supporting the concept of no religion.Not sponsoring an official religion for the U.S. is dramatically different from stating that there will be a separation of church and state. This should have been obvious to that group of law students; and ... to your readers as well.Also, her opponent could not name the freedoms protected by the First Amendment. The mass media's bias is obvious.Bottom line: The phrase, "separation of church and state" does not appear in the U.S. Constitution.
at 07:20 on October 20th, 2010
Whenever I hear Christine O'Donnell speaking, well, to be honest, along with Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Sharron Angle, to name but a few, I'm oh so tempted to sing a few verses of that old Sam Cooke song that starts off:
Don't know much about ....!
Aside from the 1st Amendment question, Ms. O'Donnell's inability to respond to questions about the 14th Amendment, the citizenship amendment and the 17th Amendment, that deals with taxes, while claiming she's about upholding the U.S. Constitution, which have always been really, REALLY big issues raging within the TEA Party and its parent organization, the Republican Party, something's amiss with the depth of her knowledge pool.
at 19:12 on October 19th, 2010
Would some constitutional "expert" please post the portion of the US Constitution that contains the phrase: "separation of church and state...Thank you.
at 20:02 on October 19th, 2010
There is no phrase [with in the First Amendment of the Constitution] "separation of church and state". Though such sentiment is implied -The amendment prohibits the making of any law "respecting an establishment of religion", impeding the free exercise of religion. Thus separating the State from matters of religion.
at 06:26 on October 20th, 2010
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Public schools are funded by the government. Therefore, they are an indirect extension. By requiring by law that public schools teach Creationalism or Intelligent Design (theyre the same thing), the government would be in direct violation. Not to mention they do their constituents a severe disservice.
The specific term separation of church and state is derived from Roger Williams and Thomas Jefferson, among others.
at 07:27 on October 20th, 2010
I wish everyone was as smart as you.
at 07:00 on October 20th, 2010
Grace H put it plainly people. CONGRESS, which is made up by STATE representatives, shall make NO LAW respecting an establishment of RELIGION (god, creationism, inteligent design) Please tell me what is so hard to understand in that phrase? O'Donnell and the Tea Party are obviously out to get rid of the constitution, since they do not understand it. They cannot even put together a coherent sentence to make an argument. These people are a joke, and I cannot believe they are even up for election.
at 13:15 on October 20th, 2010
Its a Lurid Story
at 10:24 on October 21st, 2010
Okay, you ignorant people, you are correct; there is no actual statement "separation between church and state" in the Constitution. You got us there. Boy, how smart you are to be able to see that that phrase, as stated, is nowhere to be found. The heighth of your collective IQs must be astronomical. However, for those of us who actually our their brains and can deduct through reasoning and interpretation and actually understanding what it is we are reading and what was written, the "meaning" of the first amendment is clear; separation of religion and politics. Many of the people who are at the forefront of our political arena right now are truly frightening. I fear for our future.