The Separation Of Church And State

"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

The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation in western and central Europe officially began in 1517 with Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. This was a debate over the Christian religion. At the time there was a difference in power. Roman Catholicism stands with the Pope as central and appointed by God. Luther’s arguments referred to a direct relationship with God and using the local vernacular to speak to the people. Luther’s arguments remove the absolute power from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church in general. The revenue from the taxes paid to the Church would be reduced with Luther’s ideas, in part because of

The Protestant Reformation was a pivotal time of European history that occurred during the 16th century. The Protestant Reformation was comprised of people called “reformers” that challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice (“The Reformation”). The Protestant Reformation was revolutionary due to the fact that the reformers preached against everything the Catholic Church had been teaching. Some famous reformers are John Calvin and Martin Luther. However, Martin Luther-- to some--- is named the most successful and influential reformer of the 16th century. Martin Luther was tremendously effective and influential due to how resourceful he was, and his teachings spread across Europe swiftly.

In today’s society, the separation of church and state is a fundamentally important aspect of our government. Most any citizen would agree that the government should operate based on the law and the constitution, not on the individual 's religious beliefs, yet when the issue is Abortion, that stance is flipped. The debate over abortion rages on despite the supreme court giving women the right to abortion in 1973 with the ruling of Roe v Wade. Looking at both sides objectively, the pro-choice arguments lineup with facts, while the pro-life arguments are either supported by facts yet purposefully misinterpreted, or simply not factual at all. State governments pass laws that regulate abortions and abortion centers all in the attempt to close these centers down and stop women from getting abortions at all, including situations of rape or incest. Just as the government in Brave New World controls the bodies of women by keeping them on contraceptives and controlling their bodily functions through medication, the American government seeks the same control over what women do and don’t do with their body by denying them abortions and birth control.

Our society lacks a moral compass today and we need to find a way to return to our country 's founding values. Is religion the answer? some may think so others may say keep church and state separate. The original statement was in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists Association. In his letter he says “American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church & State” (Jefferson 1802). After this letter was written it went unnoticed or used until the mid 1800’s when a group petitioned Congress to remove Christian principles and values from government. They claimed that there needed to be a “separation of church and state”. Again it was unused officially until 1947 when in the case of Everson verses the board of education the court wanted to build the wall high and impregnable. That wall was never supposed to be as it is now referred to. We need to have the religious freedoms free from government control. How can a private petition be taken out of text and used as a guide for our federal court? Our forefathers were influenced by important values when establishing this country. Also, there were a lot of other influences in our founders thought processes; own life experiences, education, and even self gratification. Just reading The Declaration of Independence you can see where their

The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era.

In today’s society, the separation of church and state is a fundamentally important aspect of our government. Most any citizen would agree that the government should operate based on the law and the constitution, not on the individual 's religious beliefs, yet when the issue is Abortion, that stance is flipped. The debate over abortion rages on despite the supreme court giving women the right to abortion in 1973 with the ruling of Roe v Wade. Looking at both sides objectively, the pro-choice arguments line up with facts, while the pro-life arguments are supported by facts yet purposefully misinterpreted, or simply not factual at all. State governments pass laws that regulate abortions and abortion centers all in the attempt to

What was the Protestant Reformation? Put into its simplest form, it was the evolution of the Roman Catholic Church; changing the religious beliefs and practices forever. Many people throughout history contributed to this famous movement, but not all of these people get the recognition they deserve, for example, Anne Boleyn. She was the queen of England from 1533 to 1536, becoming queen by marrying King Henry VIII. She brought new reformist ideas to the table, saved those being persecuted, and, with her dying words, provided an example of the one thing Christians everywhere should live by: love. Although her modern and unique views might have been looked down upon during the time of her reign, Christians today can view her as role model and a martyr.

There has been much debate lately about freedom of religion in the United States. Numerous people tend to believe that it is their freedom to force their religious beliefs upon anyone and everyone. Now, do not get me wrong, I love religion and have studied most of this worlds religious beliefs. However, I do not believe that freedom of religion means what some are so prone to believe it means.

The Protestant Reformation was a time period that changed Christianity. During this era, the Pope was considered the ultimate authority and not the king. Life revolved around the church. After the movement, kings became the ultimate source of power once again. Without this change, the Catholic Church might still be in control today.

Separation of church and state is a defined as, the understanding of the intent, and function of the Establishment Clause, and Free Exercise Clause. The Combination of church and state has been a topic that, many generations have struggled with for centuries. The first amendment of the constitution states that “Congress shall make no law about our religious beliefs, or prohibiting our free exercise of religion” If we put our faith in the constitution to define the founding father’s standpoint of separation of church and state, then we have definitely misinterpreted their stance on religion. Many people believe the reference to separation of church and state is in the original constitution, but the truth is, the references, often conceptualized and misinterpreted as intertwining with our religious freedom, but that is not the truth.

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 beliefs on American’s that do not want it , we should stick with our background as a Christian nation because most of American’s categorize themselves as Christians and our country has always been prosperous why change it now.

France is known to be home to the city of love, the Eiffel tower, the perfect holiday destination, paradoxically, the people are on the verge of war, living in neighbourhoods peppered with conflict, laced with cultural and religious intolerance and garnished with aggression. The social situation within France regarding the relationship of church and state has become increasingly strained, the accumulation of terrorist attacks and marginalisation of minority groups is only intensifying rising tensions. Although France is a secular nation where constitutionally there is a declared separation of religion and state, Muslims as a minority group experience repression and cannot freely express or practice their religious beliefs. The present

America wastes a lot of time trying to create a democracy completely absent of the moral expectations that our ancestors have put into place. Our founding fathers’ dream of establishing a country in which all people would be accepted has begun to fall. In our attempt to rid our country of a democracy contaminated with any belief in a supreme power, we have rid ourselves of many of our values and morals. Perhaps it is impossible for religion to dominate our political country, but we have misinterpreted the original intent of “separation of church and state” and taken this concept too far.

To understand Locke’s argument for the separation of church and state you first need to understand what the purpose of the government is. Locke stated that the government is supposed to support civil interest. These civil interests include property, life, and security. Therefore the government’s job is to protect the civil interests of the people using force lawfully. Once Locke institutes the power of the government he develops three important assumptions vital to the separation of church and state.