Separation of church and state

Overview

"The separation of church and state is a concept and philosophy in modern thought and practice, whereby the structures of state or national government are proposed as needing to be separate from those of religious institutions. The concept has long been a topic of political debate throughout history." -- [W]

United States

This separation has become of particular interest lately in the United States, in that there has been a strong cultural movement to "include [the Christian] God" in daily life, and to "put God back" into various arenas from which religion had generally been excluded.

The Constitution

In the United States, the separation of church and state is spelled out in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the Federal legislature from making laws that:

• Establish a state religion or prefer certain religion (the "Establishment Clause");
• Prohibit free exercise of religion (the "Free Exercise Clause");
• Infringe the freedom of speech;
• Infringe the freedom of the press;
• Limit the right to assemble peaceably;
• Limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

There are some areas where such separation is apparently ignored by tradition:

• By law, the country's currency now carries the motto "In God We Trust." (Need source: what law?)
• Congress begins its sessions with a prayer.
• The words "under God" were, by law, added to the customary United States Pledge of Allegiance (on Flag Day in 1954).

There is obviously a vague area where "free excercise of religion" and "freedom of speech" come into contact with preventing the state from establishing or sanctioning a religion: a state-salaried teacher or principal (for example) arguably represents the voice of the state, which must be restrained by the establishment clause, but the same person is also an individual and has the rights of free speech and free excercise.

Other Sources

The 1796 Treaty with Tripoli includes the statement that "...the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion". It is sometimes argued that this provision is confirmation that the government of the United States was specifically intended to be religiously neutral, or that the United States is not historically "Christian", although there is apparently disagreement on this point.

notes

Part of the problem with "including God" is that, while it includes the vast majority of religions present in the United States, which are mainly branches of Judeo-Christianity (or, more technically, Abrahamic religions), it does exclude some of them, and is therefore arguably "preferring a certain religion". It also specifically excludes atheists and agnostics, who are now much greater in number than they were at the time of the First Amendment and sometimes feel threatened or coerced by official sanction of any ideas whose sole justification is found within religious doctrine.

Need to find some specifics about the battles over displaying the Ten Commandments in (or outside of) court.

Points for Discussion

• How is it bad if God is excluded? How is it bad if God is included? Does "including God" include all religions, or are some disqualified as being pagan, heathen, etc.?
• Why should an atheist feel excluded, or even threatened, when God is mentioned? (see discussion page for more)

Related Pages

• Prayer in public schools is an issue in the United States in part because it encroaches upon separation of church and state.
• The wording of The Pledge of Allegiance has become an issue in the United States partly for similar reasons.

Links

Reference

• Wikipedia: |separation of church and state| First Amendment to the United States Constitution|

Commentary

• 2007-09-14 Russian Roulette: Orthodox Church Leaders Seek Influence Over Public Schools by Rob Boston: "One of the most foolish arguments the Religious Right uses against church-state separation is that the concept is communistic."
• 2006-11-12 Public school teacher tells class: "You belong in hell": an example of why separation is important
• 2005-12-?? why the mail is no longer delivered on Sunday by Susan Jacoby: some history on separation of church and state in the US
  • highlights and commentary by Arthur Silber

Discussion

• TruthMapping: Should there be a division between church and state?