sneaking admiration for a fellow like Gordon Liddy that does have an excess of backbone. His backbone exceeds his intelligence, really." Ervin was a staunch opponent of the polygraph calling the tests "20th century witchcraft": Probably no instrument in modern time so lends itself to threats to constitutional guarantees of individual freedom as the polygraph or so-called lie detector. The threat of its use or the intimidation inherent in its use restricts free expression and communication of ideas, intrudes on an individual's subconscious thought, makes him fear to speak his thoughts freely, or compels him to speak against his will. To my mind, the entire purpose of these machines is to invade a man's mind and find what lurks in the innermost part of his mental consciousness for reasons which have nothing to do with his ability to perform a job. If the right of privacy means anything at all and if it is a right to be cherished in our society, it means that people should be entitled to have thoughts, hopes, desires, and dreams that are beyond the reach of a bureaucrat, an employer, or an electronic technician. This is something which enthusiasts for these machines do not seem to understand. They do not understand and they do not appreciate how important privacy is to each American, and as long as that lesson is not understood, we all will find our right to privacy constricted if not abrogated entirely. I propose this legislation to ban the use of the polygraph for employment purposes in the hopes that Congress will pause for a moment, step back, and take a long look at the issues involved in the unrestrained use of the polygraph. Legislation is necessary to bring some order and control to the practice ... He also famously said of religion and government: Political freedom cannot exist in any land where religion controls the state, and religious freedom cannot exist in any land where the state controls religion. On civil liberties and equal rights: “Equal civil liberties for all and special civil rights for some are incompatible in concept and operation.” Preserving the Constitution p. 163 See also List of members of the American Legion Slow Burn (podcast) References Further reading Campbell, Karl E. "Senator Sam Ervin and School Prayer: Faith, Politics, and the Constitution", Journal of Church and State, Summer 2003, Vol. 45 Issue 3, pp 443–455, Campbell,