Religious Symbols in Society: Church vs. State Essay

"Prayer has been banished from schools and the ACLU rampages to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Moreover, “Separation of Church and State” is nowhere found in the Constitution or any other founding legislation. Our forefathers would never countenance the restrictions on religion exacted today." -- Bill Flax, Forbes, 2011

Nancy Knapp uses logos significantly more often than the other rhetorical arguments and it’s perhaps her strongest point. She does this by frequently implementing statistics throughout the article and referencing court cases. Knapp uses the examples of a multitude of bans all over the world to help introduce us to her point and logically display that this is not an artificially fabricated problem such. One such example includes: “In 2001, 60 Seventh-Day Adventist schools in Australia had banned the books”(Knapp). This clearly indicates a connection between religion and the banning of the book, a topic of discussion that she spends a majority of the first page

Even when the Constitution establishes a separation between church and state, traces of religion can still be found in public and government environments, such as the Pledge of Allegiance containing the words ‘under God’, American currency having ‘In God we trust’ and other such events and places. Consequently, this prevalence of Christian ideology violates all Americans’ first amendment right to freedom of and from religion and has a negative impact all citizens as it conflicts with their individual beliefs, religious or not.

One of the main issues raised by the case commonly known as the Everson vs board of education case is whether or not the separation of church and state is a good thing. Me personally, I only agree partially with the idea that religious groups ought to have their own political parties not because I am against government officials using their own religious perspectives and values to impact the political domain and rule the country; however, keeping the religion separated from the government ensures the vitality of the religion itself and fosters the cohabitation of multiple religious confessions, each one with its own views and beliefs, within the same environment especially in a democratic society as in America. While there are strong arguments on both sides, I have noticed that the major element in understanding this issue is the interpretation of the concept itself.

The individuals that felt strongest during this court case were War Veterans who felt the cross was not symbolic of their own religion. For example, there were Jewish and Muslim Veterans during this period who were especially against the symbolic cross as their remembrance. Non-christian veterans associated the cross to Jesus Christ, a man who in their religion was not their savior. In addition, petitioners also felt as though the cross was not a fair representation for all the Veterans that had died holding onto beliefs that were not represented by the cross. Other petitioners felt that the government had seized their religious cross as

For example, just recently all states now accept legal gay marriage. However, this was a big controversy due to religion. The power being religion, with strong religious follows, know God disapproves of such acts in the bible. However, the power behind the government by the separation and church and state cancels their opinion on a bigger scale. Religion and government today are essential for everyday life.

The separation of church and state is a very discussed topic. There are some situations where there is no separation of church and state, for example government funding of religious schools where money is given to the religious school and or program. Another example is prayer at a public school event such a graduation; the program is started with a prayer. Many also say that the abortion laws violate the separation of church and state. The last example of which students are familiar with is the pledge of alliance that is said every morning includes the words under god; this shows the flaw in the separation of church and state. There are also examples of clear separation of church and state, for example in some schools no one single religion is being

In the United States, religion and government have been separated from one another for many years. The reason being is that there are so many religions these days, and people would argue about which religion would take political power, ultimately resulting in conflicts and fights. Many centuries ago, each country had only one primary religion which every citizen practiced. In Italy for example, their official religion was Christianity, and having Christian beliefs intertwined in government allowed Italians to follow their religions rules along with the rules the government has as well. While some people may think that having religion and government together would be a good thing, many citizens living in Europe between the 12th and 16th century did not.

and fund a religion. The original settlers in America were looking for religious freedom, in particular they were trying to get away from the state sponsored religion being practiced in England at the time. The Anglican church was the “church of England” and bishops were appointed by the King of England (Heyrman 2017). If you didn’t belong to the official religion of the country, you were an outcast. A lot of these outcast were the people who originally settled the United States, they wanted to get away from state sponsored religion. However, once in America they started the same system of government supporting a favored religion. Instead of one national religion, individual states supported different churches. According to Shmoop (2017): “Congregationalism

Such problems up for debate include aid to religion-based schools, religious displays on public property, teaching evolution in schools, school prayers, and school vouchers. Government has gone to great lengths to accommodate religious issues regardless of the numerous issues still being created. Supreme Court has “tried to draw a fine line between permissible public aid to students in church-related schools and impermissible public aid to religion” (Schmitt, 69). The Courts have removed school prayers after resolving in Engel v. Vital that this form of religious promotion is unconstitutional. In 1968, teaching evolution in schools was said to counteract the “religious belief that human beings did not evolve but were created fully formed” (Schmitt, 72). Regularly “the courts are asked to determine whether religious symbols placed on public property violate the establishment clause” (Schmitt, 72). Now, we can go round and round with what is fair and not fair, but no one is going to end up happy. To me, there is no line that can be drawn that will make both parties content. So many Americans are preoccupied with picking fights with other Americans. They act like displaying Santa Claus in a front lawn, or allowing our children to learn about evolution is what is going to destroy our nation and not the “war on terror.” I think the government has already gone too far to attempt to separate church and political matters. I view it wasted time to try to resolve such a complex issue that no one will allow to be resolved. Instead, I would rather have America focusing solely on external problems and those

In this case, there are two types of sacred spaces for these ‘religions’. The first sacred space for politics in the United States is Washington D.C. and every election these groups try to get as much political power there and control it somewhat. This constant fight reminds me somewhat of the fight between the Christians and Muslims throughout the Crusades over the ‘Holy Land’, specifically Jerusalem, as both religions hold that city to be sacred, for different reasons. Much like the Crusades, the battles are a constant back and forth with the groups controlling it, and losing control, in a seemingly never-ending cycle. Also like the Crusades, these groups are willing to do almost anything to regain power. A great example of this willing to do almost anything is this most recent election in which both groups tried almost anything to win the presidency, and in the end the conservatives ‘took back’ the sacred space of Washington DC. The other type of space that both groups hold sacred and are currently fighting over is college campuses. This battle over sacred spaces is best shown by the ongoing clashes in Berkley, California between both liberals and conservatives. In this case, it is purely a battle over trying to be in power to influence the next generation. This situation is much like when religious groups try to get schools to offer religious classes, or have students pray during the school day. This sacred space is less of an actual revered space, but is instead a strategic space, that when taken gives the controlling group more influence. Both of these types of sacred spaces are important for different reasons, but still both serve as important parallels between politics and

Religion and the United States have an interesting relation over the history of the United States. Religious conservatives portray the United States as being God’s chosen nation and that religion influences every facet and procedure of the United States. Liberals try to contend that the United States is a bastion of secularization and that the founders were not particularly religious. David Sehat in his book, The Myth of American Religious Freedom, shows that religion has played a significant role in the United States, but that interaction is not always good in terms of individual actions and actually put the individuals of losing life, property and limb. Overall, Sehat’s books detail the moral establishment that was created around the time of the American Revolution and the various methods that were used in order for them to maintain their power. The book also details the way that religious and secular dissenters tried to push back against the moral establishment.

Separation of church and state was a big issue in the beginning of Christianity, mostly because it didn't exist. God supposedly chose the emperor Constantine and in turn Constantine chose Christianity as the empire's official religion. The union of church and state may not have been as great a problem if freedom of speech had also existed. It seems weird to imagine a right that I have taken for granted all of my life not to be present. Pagans experience a loss of political rights and status. Anti-pagan and anti-Semitic preaching rallied everyone against the "outsiders." Those, such as the popes, that enjoyed high ranks in Christianity now enjoyed high ranks in the government. Those, such as the emperor, that enjoyed high ranks in the government now enjoyed high ranks in Christianity. The line

What has once been an important role in society, is now uncommon due to outside forces such as education, peers’ beliefs, and the natural evolution of religion, in which all of the above causlessened need or want for religion over time. The underlying question is; do we actually need religion?

In my opinion however, I sincerely believe that the church (by extension, religion) should be separated from the secular state. This is especially important in heterogeneous societies where citizens