Even though the Separation of Church and State is not a hard concept to understand, the myths and outright lies about Separation continue to pervade political discourse in this country. Search for books concerning Separation of Amazon, and most of the books you find are written by authors who don't understand the issue but don't let that stop them from writing books that perpetuate these lies.
I'm tired of having to cover the same ground every time I debate the issue, so here are the biggest lies and myths concerning the Separation of Church and State (in no particular order):
1. Separation of Church and State is not in the Constitution.
Wrong. The First Amendment reads as follows: 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof'.
The Constitution means what it says. Not only is Congress (the government) prohibited from establishing religion, it is prohibited from respecting an establishment of religion. That is Separation of Church and State.
What happens when government is given the power to control the church? Tyranny. What happens when the church is given the power to control the government? Tyranny. Separation of Church and State prevents either type of tyranny from happening by keeping church and state balanced by separating them - ensuring that neither has power over the other.
One of the ways the government does this is by not involving itself in religious affairs at all. The government cannot claim to represent the beliefs of all its citizens when it establishes the religious beliefs of a portion of the population. The government, therefore, represents all by establishing no religion and leaving such matters to the individual conscience.
2. The founding fathers did not intend to separate church and state
If this is true, why is it that James Madison's first proposal for the test of the First Amendment reads:
"The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretence, infringed.''
Why does the Treaty of Tripoli state, in no uncertain terms:
"As the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion"
If the founders had not intended to separate church and state, they would not have included such wording in official documents.
Our founders fled from a country that did not allow them the freedom to believe freely. That's why they were so careful to incorporate the idea of separating church and state into our Constitution: to ensure that such tyranny would not happen in the country they had worked so hard to create.
3. Separation only protects religion from government; not vice versa/separation only protects government from religion; not vice versa
There is no proof that Separation was ever interpreted to be a one-way wall that only separated church from state or state from church.
Tyranny can come in many forms. The government controlling the church is just as tyrannous and damaging to religious freedom as the church controlling the government. Thus, Separation balances church and state by not allowing either one to have too much power over the other.
4. Separation is about "taking God out"
Let's start by acknowledging the fact that the idea of taking an omniscient and omnipotent God out of anything is ridiculous on its face.
Separation involves keeping church and state separate. It is not about "kicking God out" of anything.
5. The Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion but not the freedom from religion
It's impossible to have true religious freedom with one but not the other. It would be like saying, "You only have freedom of religion if you believe in a god'. That would be the opposite of religious liberty.
6. Prayer was "taken out" of public school.
This is one of the most pervasive myths that exist about Separation issues. False. What was taken out of public school in 1962 was mandatory prayer. There's a difference.
Why was mandatory prayer taken out? Because it was unconstitutional for government-run schools to require students - regardless of their faith backgrounds - to pray to the Christian God. Such practices not only violate the separation between church and state by mingling religion and government schools, but they violate the principle of the government staying out of religious affairs.
Prayer continues to be an integral part of many students' day at public school. Only prayers that are disruptive - interrupting class, causing major scenes - are prohibited from school.
7. The Bible was "taken out" of public school
Also false. Once again, mandatory religious lessons from the Bible were prohibited in school - not the Bible itself.
Many students continue to freely bring their Bibles to school and read from them. Some schools even teach Bible history classes to students that sign up for them.
8. 'In God We Trust' is on our money.
'In God We Trust' is a meaningless phrase that has become something of a golden calf to some Christians. Whether or not the motto appears on our money changes nothing about this country or the laws that govern it.
9. We are a "Christian nation".
False. While it may be true that statistically, we are a nation of Christians - that is, Christianity is the predominant religion in this country - we are not a "Christian nation".
The term "Christian nation" implies that our government is inherently 'Christian' or has established Christian beliefs. Neither is true.
10. If Christianity is the predominant religion in this country, we should be a "Christian nation". The majority rules.
I doubt that Christians who say this would feel the same way if Islam, for example, became the predominant religion in this country. Could American Muslims then announce that the majority rules and this is now a "Muslim Nation"?
Whether or not Christians are the majority in this country, they do not have the right to tyrannically decide to establish their religious beliefs in government.
To do so would not only directly violate our Constitution, but it would create more problems than it would solve. Which brand of Christianity would be establish: Protestantism? Catholicism? Baptist? Methodist? Whose interpretation of God would be establish?
More of these will be added as I think of them.
I'm tired of having to cover the same ground every time I debate the issue, so here are the biggest lies and myths concerning the Separation of Church and State (in no particular order):
1. Separation of Church and State is not in the Constitution.
Wrong. The First Amendment reads as follows: 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof'.
The Constitution means what it says. Not only is Congress (the government) prohibited from establishing religion, it is prohibited from respecting an establishment of religion. That is Separation of Church and State.
What happens when government is given the power to control the church? Tyranny. What happens when the church is given the power to control the government? Tyranny. Separation of Church and State prevents either type of tyranny from happening by keeping church and state balanced by separating them - ensuring that neither has power over the other.
One of the ways the government does this is by not involving itself in religious affairs at all. The government cannot claim to represent the beliefs of all its citizens when it establishes the religious beliefs of a portion of the population. The government, therefore, represents all by establishing no religion and leaving such matters to the individual conscience.
2. The founding fathers did not intend to separate church and state
If this is true, why is it that James Madison's first proposal for the test of the First Amendment reads:
"The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretence, infringed.''
Why does the Treaty of Tripoli state, in no uncertain terms:
"As the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion"
If the founders had not intended to separate church and state, they would not have included such wording in official documents.
Our founders fled from a country that did not allow them the freedom to believe freely. That's why they were so careful to incorporate the idea of separating church and state into our Constitution: to ensure that such tyranny would not happen in the country they had worked so hard to create.
3. Separation only protects religion from government; not vice versa/separation only protects government from religion; not vice versa
There is no proof that Separation was ever interpreted to be a one-way wall that only separated church from state or state from church.
Tyranny can come in many forms. The government controlling the church is just as tyrannous and damaging to religious freedom as the church controlling the government. Thus, Separation balances church and state by not allowing either one to have too much power over the other.
4. Separation is about "taking God out"
Let's start by acknowledging the fact that the idea of taking an omniscient and omnipotent God out of anything is ridiculous on its face.
Separation involves keeping church and state separate. It is not about "kicking God out" of anything.
5. The Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion but not the freedom from religion
It's impossible to have true religious freedom with one but not the other. It would be like saying, "You only have freedom of religion if you believe in a god'. That would be the opposite of religious liberty.
6. Prayer was "taken out" of public school.
This is one of the most pervasive myths that exist about Separation issues. False. What was taken out of public school in 1962 was mandatory prayer. There's a difference.
Why was mandatory prayer taken out? Because it was unconstitutional for government-run schools to require students - regardless of their faith backgrounds - to pray to the Christian God. Such practices not only violate the separation between church and state by mingling religion and government schools, but they violate the principle of the government staying out of religious affairs.
Prayer continues to be an integral part of many students' day at public school. Only prayers that are disruptive - interrupting class, causing major scenes - are prohibited from school.
7. The Bible was "taken out" of public school
Also false. Once again, mandatory religious lessons from the Bible were prohibited in school - not the Bible itself.
Many students continue to freely bring their Bibles to school and read from them. Some schools even teach Bible history classes to students that sign up for them.
8. 'In God We Trust' is on our money.
'In God We Trust' is a meaningless phrase that has become something of a golden calf to some Christians. Whether or not the motto appears on our money changes nothing about this country or the laws that govern it.
9. We are a "Christian nation".
False. While it may be true that statistically, we are a nation of Christians - that is, Christianity is the predominant religion in this country - we are not a "Christian nation".
The term "Christian nation" implies that our government is inherently 'Christian' or has established Christian beliefs. Neither is true.
10. If Christianity is the predominant religion in this country, we should be a "Christian nation". The majority rules.
I doubt that Christians who say this would feel the same way if Islam, for example, became the predominant religion in this country. Could American Muslims then announce that the majority rules and this is now a "Muslim Nation"?
Whether or not Christians are the majority in this country, they do not have the right to tyrannically decide to establish their religious beliefs in government.
To do so would not only directly violate our Constitution, but it would create more problems than it would solve. Which brand of Christianity would be establish: Protestantism? Catholicism? Baptist? Methodist? Whose interpretation of God would be establish?
More of these will be added as I think of them.
