> The "separation of church and state" view is odd because several states had official established churches until long after the Constitution was adopted: "New

> The "separation of church and state" view is odd because several states had official established churches until long after the Constitution was adopted: "New Hampshire kept its establishment until 1817; Connecticut kept its establishment until 1818; and Massachusetts did not abandon its state support for Congregationalism until 1833." That's not odd. The bill of rights originally did not apply to state governments. It was only after the 14th amendment that the Supreme Court started incorporating the rights on state governments. Of course some states had similar language in their own constitutions before that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_of_the_Bill_of_Rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_of_the_Bill_of_R...