Church and state separation is obviously a very controversial topic in America today. Some people want to put the Ten Commandments in public places, which sounds very totalitarian, considering what those ten instructions supposedly from God actually say. As an atheist, I am a huge advocate of separation of church and state. There are very few things worse than having someone shove religion down your throat. I think most rational Americans, religious and non-religious, would agree with that.
Two particular cases that get a lot of public attention today are the terms "One nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, and "in God we trust" on coins. Well, correct me if you think I am wrong, but I think I have finally figured this separation of church and state issue out.
This came to me when reading a book about the U.S. Supreme Court Case, Engel Vs. Vitale, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled New York's official public school prayer unconstitutional. The Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". Read that quote and pay very close attention. Notice that it does not say "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion. The word "an" indicates a particular religion, while "the" indicates religion as a broad, unspecified concept. Apparently religion has been in America since its founding back in the eighteenth century, and some of the founding fathers were in fact religious. Madison, Jefferson, Paine, and the others did not intend to wipe out religion from public life; rather, they wished to keep one particular religion (Christianity, Buddhism, Mormonism, etc.) from controlling people. Basically, the Establishment Clause guarantees your right to adhere to any religion you wish, and the government can neither endorse your particular religion or prohibit you from exercising it.
Another important issue you must understand is the very broad definition of "God" contained in the Pledge of Allegiance and inscribed on coins. "God" does not necessarily refer to an old man in the clouds with grey hair and a long beard, as he is portrayed in pop culture, nor is he/she/it/they necessarily a part of objective reality. God can mean almost anything. Einstein understood God to be universal truth. God was an intangible representation of the Universe's many laws (gravity, evolution, etc.), and it was our jobs as humans to seek out and understand how exactly this God worked. The Christian Dominionists such as Pat Robertson and Bryan Fischer, on the other hand, understand God to be a supreme being peering at humanity through peep holes in the sky, and ordering them to build heaven's government. Einstein's and the Christian Dominionist Church's view of God are entirely different.
So that is basically it. If you object to the terms "one nation under God" or "In God we trust", then you really do not have much of a case in court. If they said "one nation under the Christian God" or anything that endorses a particular religious sect, then you would have a point.
And that is basically my understanding of the issue, as of the present research I have completed.
Two particular cases that get a lot of public attention today are the terms "One nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, and "in God we trust" on coins. Well, correct me if you think I am wrong, but I think I have finally figured this separation of church and state issue out.
This came to me when reading a book about the U.S. Supreme Court Case, Engel Vs. Vitale, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled New York's official public school prayer unconstitutional. The Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". Read that quote and pay very close attention. Notice that it does not say "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion. The word "an" indicates a particular religion, while "the" indicates religion as a broad, unspecified concept. Apparently religion has been in America since its founding back in the eighteenth century, and some of the founding fathers were in fact religious. Madison, Jefferson, Paine, and the others did not intend to wipe out religion from public life; rather, they wished to keep one particular religion (Christianity, Buddhism, Mormonism, etc.) from controlling people. Basically, the Establishment Clause guarantees your right to adhere to any religion you wish, and the government can neither endorse your particular religion or prohibit you from exercising it.
Another important issue you must understand is the very broad definition of "God" contained in the Pledge of Allegiance and inscribed on coins. "God" does not necessarily refer to an old man in the clouds with grey hair and a long beard, as he is portrayed in pop culture, nor is he/she/it/they necessarily a part of objective reality. God can mean almost anything. Einstein understood God to be universal truth. God was an intangible representation of the Universe's many laws (gravity, evolution, etc.), and it was our jobs as humans to seek out and understand how exactly this God worked. The Christian Dominionists such as Pat Robertson and Bryan Fischer, on the other hand, understand God to be a supreme being peering at humanity through peep holes in the sky, and ordering them to build heaven's government. Einstein's and the Christian Dominionist Church's view of God are entirely different.
So that is basically it. If you object to the terms "one nation under God" or "In God we trust", then you really do not have much of a case in court. If they said "one nation under the Christian God" or anything that endorses a particular religious sect, then you would have a point.
And that is basically my understanding of the issue, as of the present research I have completed.
