What are your thoughts on "separation of church and state"?

briang731/ bvincent

I believe that to run a government successfully and efficiently one must separate church and state. The Arab countries are a prime example of the failings of religion in government. The only Arab governments that run any where near successful, are those that control the voice that religion is allowed to play.

I fail to understand why the US government can begin to believe that Iraq could possibly succeed with all the interference it gets from the Sunni's and Shiites. The Koran is running Iraq, and the damned Iraqi's will have the same fanatical goverment as Iran.

Eventually, I believe we will need to go back to the drawing board and help the Iraqi's form yet another Iraqi government, once everyone there realizes that religion must go, if they expect to form a win win situation. The Iraqi's will decide their own fate and will appoint their own government, and hopefully we can all go home.

Johnny O

There is no "separation of church and state" and that is not what is stated in the constitution. The constitution states that the government cannot make any laws for or against any religion.

greeneyedmommy

well if it was followed then it would be great however i dont see a consistent separation of church and state- its whenever it works for the state

Babystomper

It simply states the country will have no official state-sponsored religion. No religious organization would have direct control over government operations.
The ACLU and other socialist, hedonistic groups have taken this phrase and manipulated it to the point where they argue that no religion should be present in the public at all, so long as it's not Christian based. Praying in school, a statue of the 10 Commandments, Christian religious symbols are apparently testaments to a theocratic regime than must be stopped. When prayer was allowed in school, it was not mandatory. I never saw anybody object to a "Christmas" tree except the teachers when they were brainwashed into being scared of offending people that were not there. Nobody retorted against a poem with the word "Heaven" in it.
This shows what a few spiritually corrupt lawyers and judges can do to a great nation. Erode it from within. Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder, and it must be stopped.

Chuck P

Mama you ask why cant we pray in school, my question to all is...to which god? should there be a 2 or 3 hour period every day to pray to your chosen deity? That is what our country was founded on religious freedom but the founding fathers did not specify a god.

The Answerer-er

It's fine. It's just a choice that was made. Hard to tell if things would be better or worse without it.
Historically, it was bad to combine them and that was the point of introducing it. However, today's countries act very differently with respect to it.

cowgirl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States.
I don't think it's written anywhere that they should be separate, but I could be wrong.

Pretty_Trini_Rican

I think it is important to keep them separate.

The church has no business in telling the government how to run things.

The government has no business in religion.

Does it work out that way, not always. But it is what I think.

Being that this is not a theocracy, it is imperitive to keep them separated.

mama

Well, it says on the dollar bill In God We Trust. Why is that? Yet we can't pray in school.

buttercup

The same intelligent guys that wrote the original constitution
would turn over in their graves if they knew what we've done
about separation of church and state. They used God in
almost every address they ever made. We had God in schools,
prayers for most every occasion, God on money, God included
in things written in stone in D.C. It was meant to be by those
founding fathers. They believed in God and asked Him daily
to lead them spiritually in political matters. Songs were written
"God Bless America" and others and no one ever objected until
just a few years ago when these unbelievers have arisen from
the Abyss to change every tradition that was layed down for us
to follow. We will pay for it as God is the Ruler at the End of
time whether you believe it or not (doesn't matter)

BestHomeBiz Ever!

That is a travesty that the dollar states anything about god on it!
It's also a travesty that Christians have the audacity to try and pray in a public school!
It's a Travesty that a President will claim to be a Christian in order to sway voters, especially when that President displays that they are obviously not Christian, or acts with Christian morals!
Anything that infringes on the Constitution with regard to separation and Church and state is morally wrong and a travesty, and it seems that Christians have a very hard time understanding and dealing with this!
It's a travesty!

eggman

I think they can't possibly be separated far enough apart.... we already have the words "In God We Trust" printed on our money....In court a witness has to swear on the Bible to tell the truth (What if they are Hindu?) The Founding Fathers did not want to see their experiment in Democracy get turned into a Theocracy by the puritans (who were plentiful) so they tried to build in some safe-guards against the domination of any one religion, for if one religion obtains power the others don't have, then soon you could have religious persecution, and then kangaroo courts, and then concentration camps, and the next thing you know somebody wants to build Auschwitz (or something similar).

PAPA SMURF!!!

That politics and religion mix like oil and water - keep them separate - and keep them within your own groups.

Carolina Kitten

Church ----------------------------------------... State
We need separation without sacrificing religious freedom. I don't care if you want to pray at work or in school, but you pull your weight and get things done if you want to do that. Mass prayer is a horrible thing, pledge included. "Under god"? Who's god? "The one true god"? Thats what every big religion says, and I wont say it. I'm proud to live in the USA, but that just dumb to have included in our pledge. It's like saying, 'you can come here for religious freedom, but you live under this god that is stated in our pledge.'

Just because religion is on our money and floating around in politics doesn't mean that it's okay and it shouldn't be bothered or changed because if it says "separation of church and state" then there should be that division for every building, every law, and every word spoken in politics. Just because you might believe something, doesn't mean everyone does, and it's dumb to think that your way is the only way it should be, it has to be fair for everyone, not just the ones that are religious.

bluedoggy2006

I think if the church wants the government to spend any money at all with anything affiliated with the church, then the church should have to pay taxes and report it's billions of profit, in addition to filing as a company and letting people buy shares, so everyone gets rich.

Hadenough

"I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandment's would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress."

- Ronald Reagan

Just thought it fit in here.

enigma

Well, before there was 'church' I suppose people knew good different from bad. And if they appeared not to someone would soon let them know. We observe this even in the non-human world.. Morals of society. The decadence of morals was one of the causes of the fall of Rome.

When morals are failing, laws, directed by the 'State' are instituted by which the inhabitants are expected to adhere. If they fail to comply, they are punished by the 'state'.

We all have failings, every human being could be viewed as a sinner. We sometimes have thoughts which seemed to just 'pop up'. But we have to stay focused. Laws are applicable, on the whole, to the inhabitants of the country in which the law was structured. But times have changed. One country can now construct a law which governs all inhabitants on earth.
My concern with the obvious merging of Church/State is - there are many people who, for whatever reason, do not go to a particular church every Saturday or Sunday. But are trying to live a righteous life and try to live by example. Are they likely to be targeted as......whatever and become victimized? History has a habit of repeating itself. Europeans fled the seas to the new world primarily because of.......religious persecution.
Morals come from righteous thoughts and deeds. The church nor the state can dictate that to its fullness. They have both failed. Each individual has to decide for themselves - do I go down this or that road. Some people are so far gone they no longer feel and so we have to be so extremely vigilant at this moment in time. Peace and love to all.
.

Whitey

Speaking from a Constitutional standpoint there is no requirement for separation of church and state. It only requires the Congress not authorize a national religion, much like England had done.

Later Jefferson wrote a letter to some Baptists talking about the need for a separation of church of state. That is where the Courts later got the concept of the separation of church & state.

Personally, I see no problem with Christians becoming involved in government. People seem to think that Christians should not be allowed anywhere near anything to do with our government. Seems kind of funny that no cares about the other religions getting involved...there were instances, after9/11, where schools were teaching students about islam, making them adopt muslim names, reciting islamic prayers in school...you never heard the ACLU going after them...it just seems that the separartion of church & state is really about the separation of Christians from mainstream America.

As a Christian I think I should have an equal say in the affairs of this nation. However, unlike some Christians, I do not judge others, nor do I expect them to adopt my beliefs. Just let me voice my opinions, and become involved in what other Americans take for granted.

kashmir

yes. i dont understand why the pledge of alligence says" under god." what about athiests. or why do we have to look at the flag if we are johana witnesses? i think the seperation is still in progress.

null_the_living_darkness

It's a good idea. The original idea that is....not the crazy thing it has become.

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