To those bemoaning the presence of the divine in the inauguration

[jeff47]

298. That's probably because you seem to think freedom of religion isn't a right.

My point is not only is it a right, but it's one of the ones the framers explicitly listed when they wrote the original document.

The things you cite as rights are voting for women and blacks, and marriage for gay people.

Voting rights for women and most blacks were not part of the original document. They were explicitly not included because the framers didn't think those rights existed. That's why we had to have a civil war and a large women's suffrage movement to add them to the Constitution via the 15th and 19th amendments.

"Gay marriage" isn't in the Constitution at all. But then again, marriage in any form isn't in the Constitution. Instead, the right of "gay marriage" is inferred by all the other rights mentioned in the Constitution - essentially: if straight people can do it, gay people have to be able to do it too.

but none of that has anything to do with some reference to God in some song.

If it was just a reference to God in one song, it wouldn't be a big deal.

But we're talking about a ceremony that started with a prayer, contained an oath and a speech with references to God, contained hymns with references to God, and then was followed by an official "lunch" that started with a prayer, contained many, many speeches with references to God, and then closed with a prayer.

That's an awful lot of religion for a government with an explicit separation of church and state.