shouldnt there be a seperation between church and state?

Question

thats what our founding fathers wanted. but for some reason, christian politicians in america are trying to re-unite the two. isnt this a violation of the constitution? arent we allowed to practice out own beliefs? if anything we should be pressing to seperate church and state even more! (like taking the "in god we trust" off our currency and removing "one nation under god" from the pledge of alegiance.

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oh but the government IS interferring with religion. it is interferring with religions other than christianity. also, the idea of seperation between church and state has been around since 100 years before the american revolution. it was not put forth by some judge in the 20th century.

ralfbless since when can you be sued for alowing someone to follow their beliefs? give me an example.

holy cow is right in that even though our forefathers built a christian nation, times have changed. even though they wanted us to be a christian nation, it is against the american principles of equality for us to include one religion more than others.

"You can see that it is not set to remove God from everything political. Instead, it sets out rules for Congress. Congress cannot establish a religion for the United States or prohibit the exercise of religion." by putting in ''god we trust" on our money among numerous other things we are establishing a religion for the united states.

Answer 1

Yes, there should be. It is indeed what we believe our founding fathers wanted. However, we do have a Christian majority (only if you include the Catholics) in this country. They, therefore, believe they have the right to insist that this be "Christian" nation and they act according to that assumption.

They will not acknowledge that we had money WITHOUT God on it much much longer than we've had it WITH God on it. We also used the pledge for much longer without God than we've used it with God. They say because we are a Christian nation, everything within the government should be infused with God and his tenets and if you aren't Christian, then just don't say Under God in the pledge or don't use money if it offends you.

I believe wholeheartedly this should be a secular nation, allowing people to freely practice whatever religion they choose OR NOT choose at all, without having to be constantly bombarded with God everywhere you go. We should have freedom FROM religion as well as freedom OF religion.

But their God has told them, via his ancient followers and their book, to convert everyone and sundry to their beliefs or they must die... oh wait... that's not Christians, it's Muslims. Or is it.

Bottom line: It shouldn't matter if the words "separation of Church and State" actually appear in the constitution or not. It's wrong to force everyone you see to follow your religious beliefs and to pass laws based on your religion. Period. It's no better than what we are fighting over in Iraq right now... that's what they did there and we hate it.

Politicians may have religious beliefs, but they should not use them to make laws. They should concentrate on their constituents and the good of the people in general when they consider laws and legislation. Shoulda, coulda, woulda, though... I know plenty of religious folk who vote for a specific candidate BECAUSE they are Christian and nothing more. Of course, then it comes out later they were embezzling or cheat on their taxes and their wife, etc. LOL!

Answer 2

I'm guessing you're not a Christian. Christianity bothers a lot of people. It's tough knowing all that you do wrong will one day be counted against you and punished unless you completely give yourself over to God through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23).

The Constitution says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" in Amendment One. It is also signed "In the year of our Lord". You can see that it is not set to remove God from everything political. Instead, it sets out rules for Congress. Congress cannot establish a religion for the United States or prohibit the exercise of religion.

Congress did not create laws to put "In God we Trust" on money or "One Nation Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. In fact, as noted above, it uses "Lord" in the Constitution.

I would advise you to look at http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_reli.html for more information about the church and state.

Answer 3

The founding fathers never said anything about separation between church and state. I'm serious. That famous little phrase was coined by a judge in the early 20th century, and the ruling it was found in was later overruled; it isn't found anywhere in the constitution. Don't try to get support from the Founding Fathers for separation of church and state, they incorporated the staples of their religion into the government in a number of ways, all they did was say that you didn't have to be a Christian to live in America.

Answer 4

The seperation of Church and state, or the establishment clause reads as following:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

It is intended to keep government from interfereing with religion, not the other way around.

Answer 5

By all means there should be a separation of church and state. Christianity is not the only religion practiced in the United States, and those who are not Christian should not have to be forced to pay taxes to go towards the teaching of a religion they do not believe in or agree with.

Answer 6

Separate between church and state, while not mentioned in the Constitution, is probably not a boad idea. We don't need the State trying to run the church.

But note that is says nothing at all about separate of religion and state. Every person ever elected to any office brings his religious beliefs (pro or con) with him. And then will never change.

Answer 7

Haha! Reread that. The separation was meant to protect the state from trying to control the church, not the other way around. Religion was a founding principle of our country. The original idea of "freedom of religion" was so that they would be free to worship God without having to deal with the church of England's tyrany. THe idea was never to create a heathen nation.
The forefathers are rolling in their graves as we speak. Accept it.

Answer 8

All of you zealots that claim our forefathers wanted America to be a Christian nation are forgetting that most of our forefathers were also slave owners (I'm talking to you now, "Jermaine").

So even if you could convince the laymen to buy into your empty argument based solely on twisting and turning the semantics of The American doctrines, it's damn near impossible to convince a reasonable mind that the moral codes of colonial America should still hold true in the present. Wake up people! It's 2006.

Answer 9

Too bad there is no such thing as "separation of church and state". And no the founding father's would not want that; quite the contrary, they would want religion everywhere.

99% of the writers of the Constitution were believers in God and were active in their churches. They believed that God should be the basis of everything that would done, thus why they ended all sessions with prayer.

You might want to get your facts straight.

Answer 10

"Separation of church and state" isn't in the Constitution. Establishment of religion is prohibited and free exercise of religion is not to be interfered with.

People have to be reasonable. America was founded on the Bible, and it shouldn't be taken out of the schools.

And we shouldn't defend the free exercise of a religion that wants to blow us up.