Separation of Church and State: Your Views?

Question

What is your view and most importantly WHY?

1- Church and state should be separated.
2- Church and state are fine the way they are.

Answer 1

I am a Constitutionalist and as such, believe in the separation per the Constitution and what the founders meant when they wrote it.

Here is just one result of that examination.. a quote by Jefferson "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinion, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/churchstate.html

EMPHASIS on the last sentence... "thus building a wall of separation.."

Answer 2

the constitution of the united states says " Congress shall make no respecter of religion" I think that later on, the courts came up with the "separation of church and state" mandate. I think church and state are and should be separate entities, because the church may be our only hope in rooting out the evil in the american federal government.

Answer 3

The government cannot establish or mandate a government religion and that's just fine.

"Separation of church and state" is nowhere in the Constution.

Your question implies that church and state are not currently separated.

Answer 4

No, the Constitution says that there can be no official state sanctioned religion. The SJC came up with the whole separation of church and state BS.

Should the be separate? Sure. Have we gone way, way overboard? Yeah.

Answer 5

Church and state should be separated. Responsible governance is grounded in logic and rational thought. Faith and belief are fine for personal views but are too unreliable to be applied as a form of government.

Answer 6

Church and State in the US are required by the Constitution to be separate. They should stay that way.

Answer 7

Our present day tensions shows us Church and State intertwined is disastrous. Look at the current predicament with Islamic States like Iran. They have a ruling religious clerical body and a President. Their religious beliefs and State Government does not bring clarity to us. In fact the West views them as religious zealots. We call them "extremists." Al Queda, Hammas and other Nation States that house people of simlar beliefs like Afghanistan fight a proxy war with people who have religious and state motivations to run the world. They have no moralhigh ground.

In the 40's Hitler had a cult following that harmonized his political intent to exterminate the Jews and to make war with the civilized war because "the Aryan race was better than all others". Remember the House of Tudor, Queen Elizabeth of England? Perhaps you can remember Charlemagne. Charlemagne went through the countryside and demanded Christian conversion at the tip of the sword, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; if you did not profess Christianity he would chop your head off. Queen Elizabeth and Spain's King Ferdinand along with his Queen Catherine went to war in the name of the Catholic Church and the Church of England to impose world dominance. They were building competing Empires. All in the name of Christ and the Church.

This country was founded on as a Republic that demanded a Democratic form of governance to overcome the Church of England, the British Monarchy and the unjust laws that imposed a tax on the colonies, all in the name of the Church.
Why should we go back to this?

Answer 8

Ridiculous, because of all the confusion it causes...and the non Christians seem to be winning, the way its set up now...
Bring prayer back in the school LIKE every other country....
...Its amazing how when there is a school shooting the town can come together and pray !

Don't you think they need some prayers before, so it does not happen maybe?

Answer 9

separation of church and state is the foundation of our countries freedom. if they aren't separate we cease to exist as a free country.. that is why we are having problems today....

Answer 10

you bible thumpers need to listen to the man himself.

I think you guys call him Jesus...

It is in Matthew 6.

and prayer is actually group ceremonial magic of the invocation variety for you anti-pagans. Magic is magic no matter how you perform it.

I prefer my own space where the Absolute will hear me without having to be seen by others to confirm their need to have conformity.

prayer should be private and not enforced by the entities of the state. Even requiring such forced acts of piety in silence still infringes upon the individual's right to worship in his own way. if you wanna pray, i ain't gonna stop ya', but just don't expect me to join in.

And don't expect any real answers to your prayers either. The Asolute will troll you worse than in the immigration section.