In the last issue of Report From the Capital, BJC Director Brent Walker tackled the Top 5 Myths About Church-State Separation. If you missed it, here they are:
Myth #1: We don't have separation of church and state in America because those words are not in the Constitution.
Myth #2: We do not need or want separation of church and state because the United States is a Christian nation.
Myth #3: We have freedom of religion but not freedom from religion.
Myth #4: Church-state separation only keeps the government from setting up a single national church or showing preference among faith groups, but not from aiding all religions equally.
Myth #5: The separation of church and state has resulted in God being kicked out of the public schools and banished from the public square.
Read the whole thing, as Brent debunks these 5 mistaken ideas with great clarity and detail. And in the February issue – now online (pdf)! – he returns to this idea with three more more misguided myths about church-state separation.
Myth No. 6: Our nation’s Founders were born-again, Bible-believing evangelical Christians, or they were Enlightenment rationalists who were dismissive of religion.
Myth No. 7: The separation of church and state is a creation of 19th century anti-Catholic bigotry and 20th century secularism.
Myth No. 8: The religion clauses in the First Amendment apply only to the federal government, not to the states.
Check out these informative arguments, and while you're at it, there's other great stuff in the newest RFTC issue, including BJC counsel Holly Hollman explaining the fear behind recent anti-Sharia initiatives in states across the country. Take a look!
