Separation of Church and State
February 28, 2008
As I’ve mentioned before, mixing religion and politics is not a good idea. Some things are better kept apart, like hunting and drinking. Mix the two and you’re asking for trouble. Thankfully, the U.S. has a built-in separation of church and state that keeps bad things from happening. Interestingly, the words “separation of church and state” do not appear anywhere in the U.S. Constitution. Thomas Jefferson penned that phrase separately in 1787.
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is most well-known for outlining the right to free speech, but it also restricts the government from making laws “respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. That means the government can’t make an official religion. Neither, can the government interfere with an individual’s right to worship, or not, however he wants.
What does it all mean? And why is it a good thing?
The strict practice of most organized religions would all but guarantee the subjugation of women and homosexuals, impede scientific discovery and progressive education, and seek to modify personal behaviors that are none of anyone’s business. I’m not picking on any one religion here; you can take your pick. Each one leads down the same path unless you do what moderates do and just cherry-pick the parts you like and ignore the others. Even then, we all have different preferences for cherries. The separation of church and state is a good thing because it keeps peoples’ personal religious views from impacting our lives. Thank God.
If you would like to learn more about the separation of church and state, All about History has a great article available here.
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Doesn’t having “In God We Trust” stamped into US coins go against this?