Rhetorical Analysis

The myth of the United States of America, having been founded as a Christian nation has long been circulated throughout our country’s history. Christian historians were the first to put forth this narrative and in today’s world, website writers and editors have taken up the cause. On the website, WhatChristiansWanttoKnow.com, Robert Driskell peddles the myth in an article entitled, “Was the United States of America Founded As A Christian Nation? A Look at the Facts.” Driskell quotes a number of Founding Fathers out of context and uses them as evidence for a Christian nation as well as uses the first amendment to claim that the Constitution did not intend for a strict separation between Church and State.

separation of church and state and the limits that are set within this statement. Should

In recent decades, the separation of church and state has been somewhat of a contentious issue. Both sides have claimed that, if the other side gets their way, public morality will suffer. The right typically comes down on the side that encourages the presence of religious practices and principles in the public sphere, while the left–where I personally stand–advocates for the privatization of religion. After a long summarization of the history of the separation of church and state in America, this article claims that public morality has fallen to new depths since a series of rulings in the 1960s that began to interfere with public religious expression and teaching. There are two major reasons that I do not agree with this article: the first

Everyday our minds are being filled with conflicting ideas. A wall is being built between religion and reason. This is the truth about the separation of church and state. Religion is a big aspect of life in the U.S., recent statistics show that on average 72% of adults in the U.S. profess a belief in God. The conflict between reason and right goes hand in hand in this country. Everyday those who live life with religion are being tested by people that challenge their beliefs, infringe on their personal freedom, and try to force their own beliefs into the minds of others.

The separation of the state and church refers to the distinct distance in the relationship that exists between the national state and the organized church. Although the aspect of separation between the state and the church has worked in a number of nations, the degree of separation varies depending on the valid legal policies and laws in relationship with the prevalence views on the religious aspect of the society. In most of the nations that practice such separation, there exists distinct rules and regulation between church and state. However, between the two entities, there will always exists a way through which the two entities will interact and consult each other as individual entities (Hamburger 67). People should not push Christian

Separation of church and state is essential in creating a liberal state. Within a liberal state, religion should be expressed and practiced in a private setting. This idea of separation of church and state emerges from the beginning of the United States. Thomas Jefferson coined the term a “wall of separation”, which defines the relationship between religion and government. Although many problems arise out of government and church intertwinement, strict separation is not the most practical answer in today’s world. States that show toleration for the vast majority of religious views while still focusing on the main religion are more likely to work within a democratic and liberal spectrum than those who demonstrate strict separation.

Anita Coleman, the issue of how the church and the state coexist is an important one. Today in the U.S. we take for granted the fact that these two institutions are separated, even though there are major disagreements over what exactly that relationship should be and how much the state should have over the church and vice versa. But during a good amount of ecclesiastical history the church was tied together with the state and influenced civic decisions or in many cases was one with the state and to be at odds with the church was to be at odds with the state, they had become one and the same.

The separation between church and state is a debate that continues to grow with tension as the culture of America rapidly polarizes. A long-standing claim that America was founded on Christian doctrine is a common argument in favor of the church and state to remain together, yet the most commonly used metaphor explaining what the “Separation of Church and State” contextually means in today’s terms is simply that government and religion should not coincide with one another in any capacity. Evidence of this is true today with pre-game prayer being removed from the beginning of school sanctioned sporting events, and churches denying the censorship of doctrinal belief by the government. The ideas of Roger Williams were the first to challenge the notion of government being the “nursing father” to the church, and today they still confront the issues with separating church and state, in addition to, his writings have influenced the way modern day thinkers perceive what the First Amendment states. It is vital to grasp the history behind the notion of separating church and state to fully understand what our Founding Fathers meant by inserting this into the Constitution.

When arguing for the importance of the maintenance of the separation of church and state, it is important to focus on

The religious liberties in the June Constitution were the culmination of a “religious crisis” that began in the early 1800s. Clergy and lay people alike recognized a growing apathy towards religion. A Danish professor in 1843 noted, “An anxious anticipation” had arisen and the “unfulfilled aspiration” would result in “something new.” The State Church was so intertwined with the government that a complete “reinvigoration of religious faith” was necessary. Old and new ideas clashed in criticism of the existing traditional system.

For years Americans have been engulfed in what may be the greatest nationwide debate in the history of America. The separation of Church and State. For starters a few definitions should be made clear. Webster defines religion as " a cause, principle or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith." That is the definition that I will be referring to when I say religion. When I say Religion with a capitol R I am referring to "the service and worship of God, or the supernatural"

Everyone knows that church and state are supposed to separated, but then nobody ever talks about the reason that it is separated. When the idea of separation is thought of eventually the question of , why, arises. David Little from Brigham Young University law Review writes that the Declaration of human rights promotes the protection of all human rights which would also include the right of religious freedom (Little 1). The reason that the American government would need to be separated in order to promote and protect religious freedom is because of two words, bias and discrimination. The problem of discrimination and how it often is forgotten is brought to light by Elizabeth Sepper from Columbia Law Review describing how often debates about

The wall of separation between the church and the state has led to many political and social issues within the country. Ever since Thomas Jefferson penned the phrase in his letter, it will always come up when limitations have been pushed too far. It has become a sensitive matter to touch on, especially when it comes to financial affairs. The issue of whether or not tax exemption benefits should be retained among religious institutions continues to be widely debated.

Our country was built on the foundation of separation between church and state. But has the concrete wall of separation begun to deteriorate? Or was it ever really there at all? As we continuously battle over the rights to same sex marriage, the question of church or state surfaces. It is due time that we examine this matter and decide once and for all if the church should have any opinion in the matter when this country is supposed to be based on a separation of the two. Howard Moody, a Baptist minister, addresses the issue of state versus church in the matter of gay marriage in his article published in 2004 in the Nation. Moody’s

There have been a number of events to which the argument against the involvement of religion in the affairs of the state has been applied, the debate over the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments in the