The separation of church and state is the theory that the government of the United States should be, in no way what-so-ever, be influenced by any religion. This theory isn’t just a principle that is accepted by the country, it is written into the law put into effect by the constitution in the first amendment saying “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...” . So why should this separation be put into question? Though the constitution says that congress shall make no law respecting a religion, it doesn’t exactly say “separation of church and state.” This is where the controversy arises. To begin with an unbiased approach, I will take on both sides of the conflicting ideas.
To support the separation of church and state, separationists try to prove that the first amendment was put into place to reaffirm that the government had no affiliation with any church. They would disagree with the government using tax dollars to support any religiously affiliated activity. They would also be strongly against any means of prayer in the schools. A perfect summary of this broad interpretation is the Emerson vs. Board of Education case of 1947. Here is an e
Non-preferentialists are a subset of accomodationists. Their positions generally are the same as those of accomodationists, with an important exception: non-preferentialists believe that the Constitution allows the government to support or promote religious beliefs and practices only so long as that support “favors no one religious sect or belief”. Most of these people would agree with the way the church and state relate in today’s government.
So where should our nation stand? Should our nation continue to print “In God We Trust” on all of our money and should our nation’s president continue to ask God to bless our troops? Obviously our country is partial to Christian faiths because of the majority they represent. Should this be allowed according to the first amendment or does the first amendment not even touch the basis of this controversy? It’s all based on the interpretation of the law and morals of society.
Personally, I support the separation of church and state to a degree. This is because I strongly disagree with the teaching of religion in schools because I feel that religion comes more with family and tradition. Though it is true that some countries can have a national religion, our country cannot because of the broad spectrum of people in which we
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