Explain yourself. Prove yourself. Don't sit there and just declare yourself correct without proof.
Mike
The 14th amendment applies the amendments to the states, because the states were ignoring the constitutional amendments.
Because of the 14th amendment the 1st amendment does apply to the states. As do all of the amendments.
Thank you for attempting an intellectual conversation. Specifically, what language in the 14th amendment do you think applies an amendment that begins with "Congress shall create no law" to the states. I can agree with the second because the right is seemingly universal, just from the way it was written.
As kind of an aside (which will relate back to our discussion) is it your belief that the meaning of the 14th amendment may change over time or does it mean what it meant when it was ratified? Do the courts have interpretive powers? Are they absolute and should all future courts be bound to the decisions made by the courts today?
Mike
Because state governments were free to ignore the American Constitution, they usually did; as a consequence, several state retained established state churches for many years. This changed, however, with the passage of the 14th Amendment:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
That is only the first section, but it is the most relevant one to this issue. First, it establishes just who qualifies as citizens of the United States. Second, it establishes that if someone is a citizen, then that person is protected by all of the privileges and immunities of the United States. This means that they are protected by the Constitution of the United States and that individual states are expressly prohibited from passing any laws which would abridge those constitutional protections.
As a consequence, every citizen of the United States is protected by the "rights and immunities" outlined in the First Amendment and no individual state is permitted to pass laws which would infringe upon those rights and immunities. Yes, the constitutional limitations on governmental powers apply to all levels of government: this is known as "incorporation."
The claim that the First Amendment to the Constitution does not restrict actions taken by state or local governments is nothing less than a lie. Some people may believe that they have legitimate objections to incorporation and/or believe that incorporation should be abandoned, but if so they then should say so and make a case for their position. Claiming that incorporation doesn't apply or exist is simply dishonest.
