Cybjorg said:

> To be precise, they were critical of state-run organized religion, and not organized religion in and of itself.

Some were of that opinion and stopped there, such as Paine and Madison. Others, such as Jefferson and Franklin, held a much more absolute opinion on the subject and were critical or dismissive of all organized religions in any way. They were theists, believing in a Christian God, but were very anti-church:

"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own."
- Thomas Jefferson to Horatio G. Spafford, 1814. ME 14:119

Others, like Washington, apparently were not religious at all and very ambivalent in a belief in God.

FerretBoy said:

If the state were to enforce one relgion, it would not be the church controlling the state, but the state controlling the religion.

If the state were to enforce the one religion, it would be the church controlling the state as well. Look at the places in the world where this is the case. The admonishment for government to stay out of religious affairs protects both the goverment and religion. I wish religious people would realize this, but a lot seem to think it is perfectly ok for the state to endorse religion, as long as it is their religion.

As Bitt said and I tried to point out, separation of church and state is tangental to the issue of same-sex marriage. I think religion is involved in the discussion because it is an aspect of the church that Christians hold very stronly to[...]

Well, I have to disgaree that this is a tangent. I believe it goes to the very heart of the matter, as it does in the case of abortion as well. For the most part, the only people opposed to these issues are religious (i.e. Christians), and only because their bible tells them these are bad things. This issue is purely about Christians trying to force the law to make something that they don't approve of, for religious reasons, illegal for anyone regardless of their personal faith. Marriage does not belong to the Christian church and I am sick of people making believe it does. Marriage is a rite in ALL religions, and existed well before anyone ever heard of Jehovah or Jesus.