How did separation of church and state get interpreted the way it is today?
I think separation of church and state means just not forcing people to conform to a religious doctrine or practice. I can understand how prayer in schools and forcing students to sing religious songs is a violation of separation of church and state because it actually and literally forces them to conform to a religious practice and worship a certain God. But, how is putting the Ten Commandments on public buildings or having In God We Trust on our currency violating separation of church and state? How is that FORCING religion on anyone? If the Ten Commandments are on a building or if In God We Trust is on our currency, all it’s forcing anyone to do is LOOK AT IT! What’s wrong with merely LOOKING AT the Ten Commandments or In God We Trust? It doesn’t force you to worship a certain way or to conform to a religious practice. How is it coersive to just have to LOOK AT religion? Can someone please explain the reasoning behind the interpretation of separation of church and state today?
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I don’t think that the separation of church and state has anything to do with forcing religious beliefs on citizens. It means that religious views can have nothing to do with decisions on state matters. The US is horrible about actually implementing this though. If our population could actually think on their own enough to realize this, things would work much smoother. The government and decisions made by the government should have absolutely nothing to do with "God" (christian, jewish, muslim, etc). People seem not to be able to grasp this. What annoys me the most is that a lot of americans believe Intelligent design should be taught in schools because it is science and not religion. WHAT?!?!? Just the fact that an "intelligence" designed the universe is implying that there is a God. How is this not religious. People can only seem to look so far. Barack Obama is shunned by many just because he has a muslim name. How can this happen. I am ashamed of many of my fellow americans. People need to be able to look outside of their personal beliefs to be fair. Our population has to be better educated soon, or we as a prominent nation will not last much longer.
"Separation of Church and State" is not in the Constitution. Never was. The liberals would insist it is. Read it and you will see, it is just left wing propaganda. Many people believe that it is in the Constitution.
YOU CAN BLAME IT ALL ON THE LIBERALS, OUR FOUNDING FATHERS DID NOT SEE IT THAT WAY
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
That means that government makes no law supporting one religion over another. While Judeo-Christian law in the shape of the Ten Commandments is actually considered acceptable in a law building, its not in a school setting.
If you want to think about the rest of it, imagine being a devout Christian and forced to look at evidences of Muslim religion all around you. Suppose our money said In Allah We Trust? Or we were forced to look at Voodoo dolls?
When you can put the shoe on the other foot, and think of yourself as the minority, your perspective shifts and you come to understand why you can feel pressured when you aren’t part of the majority anymore.