Why do religious people want so badly to overturn the Separation of Church and State?

Question

I know that not one religious person will admit it, but they would love to do this. That way they could lawfully impose their beliefs on everyone else.
But it does beg another question. If our founding fathers were all so very religious (and they were!) then why did they see fit to guarantee the separation of church and state? Perhaps it was to protect us from the religious extremism and fanaticism that exists in our very country today?

Me? I have truly awakened to the truth of evolution and secular humanism and wiped my eyes clear of the fairy tales and proven falsehood of the so called bible.

Long live my man Darwin!!!!!!

Answer 1

Congratulations and welcome to the light, brother. They take on an impossible cause because the defeat gives them a perpetual excuse. See, if God were as almighty as religion claims, the separation of Church and State wouldn't be an obstacle.

"northern": What country are you living in? In this one (the U.S.), "Put prayer back in schools" is a political campaign issue. Typical religious zealot response: Deny, deny deny... I was there on many Sunday mornings to hear with my own ears, "This country was founded on Christianity. We need to take our country back."

Answer 2

I am a theist, and I would hate for the government to establish a religion. In doing so, the government, not the church, would be the arbiter of what is good and bad doctrine, and that would stifle freedom of conscience. It is as that point when religion would stop being religious and become a way to control people. This has been the case historically--every time a government has established a state religion, it has proved disastrous.

The genius of the American system is that they allow for religion to exist without establishing state religion. Nobody is coerced into endorsing a particular viewpoint and thus creates a forum where all worldviews, secular and religious, can be expressed. This implies that nobody can have freedom from religion. Religion in this type of system is everywhere, and the views are varied.

However, if freedom from religion was the position that was enforced, then nobody would be allowed to express religious viewpoints. This is censorship. It seems that many people would want the government to do is stamp out any and all religious expression, which would in essence be stopping freedom of religion, which is also guaranteed by the US constitution. I don't see how that is any different that establishing a religion. These people in essence want their viewpoint (no religious expression) to be the one endorsed by the government.

So with these things said, seperation of church and state does not mean that religious people cannot express their views in the public forum. It means that the government will not establish an official state religion, and to date, it has not done so.

Answer 3

No such thing as separation of church and state. That is just a misinterpreted line out of a (personal) letter from Thomas Jefferson to someone else. It was said, intending to keep the government out of the church. The founding fathers found it imperative that God and the church remain IN THE GOVERNMENT. One of the founding fathers said, a democracy without God cannot stand. You should have paid a little more attention to your History teacher, and a lot less, to your Science Propagandist. "Real science (not theory), without an agenda, has always proved the Bible accurate. If the Bible can be proved accurate, then one would be accurate to say, GOD MUST EXIST! Therefore let this nation become a REPUBLIC, the way it was intended, governed by the word of GOD!

Answer 4

The Constitution doesn't use the words 'separation of church and state'. It also doesn't use the words 'right to a fair trial' or 'right to vote'. And it doesn't use the words 'God', 'Christian', or 'Jesus'.

Jefferson wasn't the only founder to use the phrase 'separation of church and state', so did Madison (aka the Father of the Constitution' on multiple occasions.

At the time the Constitution was written, just not invoking the imprimatur of God in the preamble was radically secular.

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Answer 5

Why do secularists want to ban all "religion" except their own?

The problem is not, as you claim, "religious people" wanting to change something, but those who profess atheism or secularism have succeeded in getting THEIR RELIGION effectively designated as a "state religion" in direct violation of the US constitution. Thus, they are using the force of government to bolster their viewpoints in a way the "founding fathers" would almost universally oppose.

Blue-Grey: There was no separation in Europe, hence the "church of England" was legally enshrined as were catholics in several countries.

Many European countries had laws similar to those in many Muslim countries today.

-- Just a few years ago, it was unlawful to evangelize among the Greek Orthodox in Greece, but the government freely allowed evangelism among the Muslim population. I went to school with someone that was imprisoned for:
1. Translating the New Testament INTO GREEK.
and
2. Teaching Greek Orthodox believers the true gospel.

Answer 6

The intent of the law, was to keep the government out of the church. However, itis now (roughly about the last 70-80 years) in this country being misused to get the church out of government.

I will save other comments about that matter fornow.

Answer 7

Your question is valid, but your post is really asking for solutions to two objections.
1. Our founders were very wise; they wanted a nation with an ethos based on grace, which they learned from Christianity. They wanted the new nation to live it out independent of religious control and you are correct to object to those who mix religious and patriotic expressions, for that is an expressional version of the institutional mix of church and state history has recorded.
2. I sense you have aligned yourself with secular humanism and its teaching over and against a literal interpretation of certain elements of the Christian story. This is unnecessary. It is perfectly valid to interpret things like the Virgin Birth and the like in a metaphorical matter. To interpret them literally is to take a scientific approach to faith. This is not how first century Jews approached such things, so it could not have been the approach of the Biblical authors. They used stories to point to something...what the stories point to is what is important, not the logistics of the stories themselves. Don't make the mistake of getting stuck in only understanding one school of thought about such things; you may miss out on something priceless if you do.

Answer 8

Not all of our founding fathers were religious. Thomas Jefferson thought the Bible to be foolish. John Adams supported freedom of religion on the grounds of being free from Christianity.

Many will say that God hates our country for being secular, though ironically, we have more conflict here than in other, less religious Western countries. Go figure.

Answer 9

The Constitution states that CONGRESS shall make no laws establishing religion or the free expression thereof. Doesn't say anything about the states. The term " seperation..." comes from a letter by Jefferson ( I think) to some Baptists, and referred to a "wall" PROTECTING the church from the state.

Answer 10

Nowhere in the US Constitution does it say anything about a separation of church and state.

That is a liberal myth.

Evolution is voodoo science that has no proof. Life can't evolve from non-life.

Looks like Darwin has made a monkey out of all you evolutionists.

HA HA HA HA HA