How do you feel about the separation of church and state (US)?

Question

Should the divide be greater, lesser, or is it at a good level right now?

Answer 1

It upsets me how the wall seems to be getting eroded, with things like the prayer breakfasts and high-ranking military officers proselytizing in uniform. Yes, I think it should be separated. I'm not terribly disturbed by a creche at City Hall, but I'm scared as hell about things like Bible classes, abstinence-only sex "education," and creationism (or whatever the current euphemism is) in public schools.

Answer 2

It should be greater. The more I see mainstream religions push their singular ideas on the rest of us, the more I want to see the separation to go even further.

It's not at a good level now. You have one side yelling that Halloween shouldn't be allowed because it's Pagan... yet every Holiday they have IS Pagan. Either this type of hypocricy ends... or the Gov't should make it so that no one has any Religious Holidays that can be displayed in public.

You can't cry over Freedoms lost when you're taking away freedoms from others. *Not YOU... just the general "You"* =)

Answer 3

Sadly, what too many religious people in the U.S. fail to understand is that the wall of separation between church and state to which Thomas Jefferson referred was erected to protect religious freedom, not abridge it. Most of the founding fathers were men of faith, and they clearly believed that one's faith is a deeply personal matter, something that should be decided as a matter of conscience, not dictated by the government. If the government creates an established church, individuals lose their freedom to worship or not worship as they see fit. If the government recognizes one religion as superior to all others, individuals lose their freedom to decide for themselves. Therefore, separation of church and state is essential to protecting each person's religious freedom. The government must remain neutral in matters of religion, giving no favor to one religion or standing in the way of any.

The founders knew what they were doing. We must maintain the wall they built. In my opinion, the divide should be greater than it now is. The Bush administration has done everything it can to chip away at the wall and give favor to Christianity over all other religions. The damage must be reversed.

Answer 4

Even greater...but, I do have to admit, it is much better here then, say, Iraq.
I've been wondering, if the divide was even greater, would we do away with Christmas and Easter, or keep the holidays, minus the pagan and Christian associations, and rightfully call them 'Winter' and 'Spring' holidays. Maybe add a summer one and would the name 'Halloween' stay the same (since it is so distorted from 'All Hallow's Eve') or completely change it to another? I'll probably actually post this q late on...

Answer 5

The separation of church and state is absolutely vital. We fought a war against a monarch ordained by God - his name was King George III. Let's not go through that again! Mankind will never truly be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest!

Answer 6

There simply is NO legitimate basis for helping the churches. They are deadweight museums with clueless religious folks coming and going.

I would like to see the tax break structure for these institutions be drastically reduced, especially the catholic church who owns like 3% of all the land and property in the US. What a sham. It is unjustified and unwarranted... some estimate their holdings at perhaps $750,000,000 or 3/4's of a TRILLION dollars.

Answer 7

I think the wall that Jefferson spoke about needs the breach fixed badly. It's saddening that the Danbury Baptists realized over 200 years ago what the Southern Baptists can't see today: There is a clear danger in the admixture of religion and government.
Walls are not one-way devices. Government should not involve itself in religious affairs, and religion should not involve itself in government affairs.

Answer 8

There should be a total separation. It has been lesser since GWB got in the Whitehouse.

Answer 9

It should be greater!

when i walk down the street i can see the ten commandments in the park. that's public property, the ten commandment shouldn't be there.

well i guess i could always take advantage of this and place a satanic symbol on the slide or titer toter, then it would be fair a guess ^_^

Answer 10

It's non-existant. If it was, i could buy booze on sunday, there wouldn't be God invading the back of my dollar bill, and i wouldn't have to say God's name while pledging to this great nation. The seperation of church and state is the same as God himself, something we tell people to make them feel better, even if it doesn't exist.