re: What Does Separation of Church and State Mean to You?

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Doesnt mean anything to me.

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Then you don't know why it exists. Your freedom to not practice is because of this. From the days of the Roman Empire to the days of the pilgrims feeing England amid the 30 Years War, the emperor or king mandated your faith. It was illegal, punishable by death, to not practice the emperor's or king's faith. During the 30 Years War, all of Europe was in turmoil over kings mandating their subjects as either Catholics or Protestants. When England reverted back to Catholicism, Protestants were killed for refusing to conform to Catholicism. That's when the Calvinist, Puritan Protestants fled for the New World.

The separation of church and state has nothing to do with allowing or disallowing a nativity scene on public property at Christmas time, it's about not allowing government to force you to be of one certain denomination or another.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof... "

It means just what it says...congress shall keep its nose out of my business (especially when it pertains to my religious beliefs).

double post.

It means religion has no place in the public sector.

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practice any government-backed faith.

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look at the details.

Philadelphia used to prevent the Phillies from completing baseball games on Saturday night, stopping play at 11 PM sharp, so the good citizens would get up and go to church on Sunday.

Assuming your charge is at face value, how is that forcing you to practice any faith? Blue laws used to disallow certain businesses to be open on Sunday. That didn't mean anyone had to go to any church that day - or any day.

It most areas of America, bars must be closed at a certain time. Restricting operating hours is not forcing faith on anyone.

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maybe we should also teach mother goose fairy tales as a balance to history

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nah, since we are already being lied to about history

[[ Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Paperback – October 16, 2007
by James W. Loewen ]]

" James W. Loewen is the bestselling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and Lies Across America. He is a regular contributor to the History Channel's History magazine and is a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Vermont. He resides in Washington, D.C. "


such is life at public schools

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churches should be taxed like corporations.

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I'm on the fence on this one. Some like the televangelists and Scientologists should. Though a lot of smaller churches barely get by.

If they make a profit, they lose their NPO status and have to pay taxes. This argument is a red herring.

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First, it's important to mention that separation of church and state is not mentioned in the constitution. The phrase is included in a quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson. It means that the government cannot adopt a national religion nor can it pass a law that would infer the establishment of one particular religion over another.

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Thomas Jefferson's "wall of separation between church and state" is a metaphor, not a law as many think. Many of the founders included Christianity into the country itself. The metaphor is strong language that's made to be impactful, but doesn't mean that it's literal.