Constitutional Law: Separation of Church and State

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides, in relevant part, that "Congress shall make no law respecting a particular establishment of religion, or perhaps prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Oftentimes, individuals talk about "separation of church as well as state;" this phrase is NOT in the First Amendment! The phrase "separation of church as well as state" is a phrase that came from Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists Association in 1802, wherein Jefferson wrote regarding a "wall of separation between church as well as state." Interestingly, the use of that term by Jefferson was vastly different than the use of the term today. Jefferson viewed the separation as a shield, preventing government from taking any kind of action offending or perhaps interfering with religion. Today, interestingly enough, the the term "separation of church and state" has been utilized as a sword, and also only emerges from antiquity whenever the uneducated seek to disregard the well-established law from the United States Supreme Court as well as attempt to force their religion into government.

United States Supreme Court opinions, over the previous 200 many years, have addressed separation of church and also state in a amount of cases, and also have always ruled in a manner keeping the 2 entities separate:

First Amendement applies to state and local governments Religious instruction in public universities is unconstitutional Any prayer in public universities is unconstitutional Reading Bible verses more than the intercom is unconstitutional Posting of The Ten Commandments in government buildings is unconstitutional Teaching of "creation science" is unconstitutional Showing nativity scene inside government building is unconstitutional Prayer at graduation ceremony is unconstitutional

Actually, the U. S. Supreme Court got it right! While some fundamentalists feel that these Supreme Court decisions are a bad thing; they are thus, and so incorrect! The basic supposition of the proponents for prayer in school is that the prayers is Christian and the verses comes from the Bible. Given the diverse society and also the religious range in government as well as the public school program, the basic assumption is flawed. Government and public school systems employ non-Christians like Muslim, Hindu, Taoist, Buddhists, etc. Just how awkward would certainly it be for a Hindu physics instructor to lead a Christian Bible research in first period to a religiously diverse class? Who would need a non-Christian to teach Christian values? Religion is more individual, topic to interpretation, as well as perhaps ideal taught by mom and dad in a home or perhaps church setting as opposed to large, impersonal classrooms.

Separation of church and state is a fundamental pillar of an American society, and also it truly cuts both ways: government cannot interfere with religion, and religion should not interfere with government! Religion ended up being intended to be between guy and his God, Not man and his government; all Americans should come together and collectively agree to keep the separation of church and state set forth throughout American jurisprudence.

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