What is the real meaning of separation of church and state?

Answer 1

when our country was founded, back when we were a CHRISTIAN nation, before the aclu twisted every word int something else, it meant that the government would not force you to belong to one certain church, such as the british were doing with the catholic church. it had nothing to do with keeping god out of schools. the first 150 years of our country ever school taught wi the new england primmer, a book that taught every subject with biblical lessons

Answer 2

The separation of church and state is a political doctrine which states that the institutions of the state or national government should be kept separate from those of religious institutions

a great example is when bush was governor he tried to make June 10Th "Jesus day" which would encourage people to help out people that are in need , a great idea but should have been called something else like humanitarian day

i don't believe the gay marriage thng is seperation of church and state , marriage is between a man and a woman , a symbol of unity and the beginning of starting a family and passing on your beliefs , it is a very old traditin that should stay a tradition

Answer 3

Separation of church and state is an interpretation by the courts, of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution that states the Government shall make no law that in any way restricts the free practice of religion.

This interpretation has lead to segregation-ism whereby the very Christian Values that were, in fact, the basis of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence have been stripped away from our society.

It should be noted that no where in the First Amendment does it say the phrase "Separation of Church and State".

Answer 4

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Separation of church and state is some thing the new agers have come up with. It is done to control other peoples beliefs and ideas. What is in the Constitution was stated above. Government is not to control the peoples beliefs. It is not meant to keep any ones beliefs out of government.

Answer 5

The term comes from Jefferson's speech to the Danbury Baptists in 1802. The term is not found in the Constitution.

Even if it were in the Constitution, a "wall" does not imply COMPLETE separation. A wall can have a door or a window in it.

Incidentally, the first amendment's aim was not to keep God and religion out of the government. It was the opposite, the Founders were primarily interested in keeping the GOVERNMENT from meddling in the CHURCH. Many of the answers here are wrong on that count.

Many of you seem to believe that the First Amdnement was designed to protect the government from religion - it was the opposite, it was intended to protect religion from government intrusion.

Answer 6

The words "seperation of church and state" were never included in the bill of rights/constitution. What does the term “Separation of Church and State” really mean in the United States?

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James Madison, trained to be a minister and preacher of the Gospel, is rightly called "the father of the United States constitution," as he played a key role in its framing. Both James Madison and Thomas Jefferson are called the "Champions of Religious Freedom." Why? Because they both spoke out against an established state-controlled church, such as the Anglican church in Virginia, which had forced all citizens to attend its services, pay tithes and which had persecuted all other Christian churches, such as the Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Mennonites, Lutherans, Quakers, etc.

All these other Christian churches could not hold their own services, nor could they preach the Gospel without permission from the Anglican church. In Virginia, the Baptists had been thrown into prison on occasion, for worshipping God in their own way, and for preaching the Gospel outside the Anglican church.

Thomas Jefferson put a stop to this religious persecution, by Act of Congress, with his document: "Statutes for Religious Freedom in Virginia", which abolished the Anglican state-controlled church, replacing it with Freedom of Religion, that is freedom of different Christian churches, as above mentioned, to worship in their own way, without being persecuted and punished.

This is the real meaning of the First Amendment Clause of our United States Constitution, which reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..." Father of the United States Constitution, James Madison had this clause put into the Constitution, in order that the government would never again force citizens to attend a state-controlled church, such as the Anglican Church in Virginia had been. This is the true meaning of the phrase: "Separation of the Church from interference by the State." Now, all the different Christian denominations could worship God in their own way, and preach the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ wherever they wished.

Answer 7

The real meaning of the law is to leave the citizen to the mercy of the puppeteers!!! And be lead by a lunatic and corruft politicians!!!

And if I could change that law, I would suggest that it should be;

Separation of the services of the Church and State is inviolable.

Answer 8

The term "separation" is not used in the Constitution but is invoked by those who oppose organized religion. The Constitution simply states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

Answer 9

The goverments athority is not supposed to be based on the church like in the pre-18th century england.

We are supposed to not have a State sponsored religion...

Basicly its protection from the government saying "Ok we like the muslim religion, everyone has to be muslim or leave"

Its been taken to the extream lately in that all religious material has had to have been removed from many governmental institutions.

But the intent was simply to keep people from having a religion forced on them.

Answer 10

The real meaning of seperation of church and state is our forefathers intention to create a government that doesn't mandate the religion of its subjects. I other words, you have the right to choose what religion,if any, you will practice.