A nativity scene in a public square.
"Separation of church and state!"
A politician talks about his or her belief in god.
"Separation of church and state!"
Many people have a misconception of what separation of church and state is. Separation of church and state does not mean people can't say, "Merry X-Mas," or there is no religious dimension in politics.
The term derives from, "wall of separation between church and state," which was written in a letter by Thomas Jefferson in 1802. The term does not actually appear in the constitution. What the constitution says is based on the following, "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
Many people feel that having the words, "under god," in the pledge of alliegance violates separation of church and state. The pledge has gone through many changes since its inception and while "under god," was added in the 1950s, it does not violate SoCaS. Why? Because no school officials, however, are permitted to force any students to participate if they do not wish. That is where the constitutional line is drawn. If congress passed a law that required you to say, "under god," or else you'll be arrested, than that's a different story.
Personally I'd rather not see it in there, but the truth is the majority of people in the country are Christian. So, you'd have more people upset it was taken out than people who are upset it is in there. It's just easier to not say it if you don't agree.
In the case of a public square, event, etc displaying religious symbols does not violate SoCaS. Many people feel a public place should be, "naked." However, this promotes religious hostility. Something that does violate the constitution. Consider the following, "Strict separation does not exclude religion from the public square. Instead, it prevents religious speech from being privileged in the public square and it prevents the government from encouraging religious speech in the public square. A public square can only be "naked" in an official sense. When it comes to private speech, however, a public square is as filled with religion as community members want it to be." So, having religious symbols in public does not violate SoCaS, as long as it is not officially endorsed by the government.
So what does SoCaS cover?
*The government cannot direct your religious observances
*The government cannot tax you for the purpose of supporting someone else's religion
*The government must defend your religious liberty
*You cannot be discriminated against based on religion
*You cannot be told how to worship, when, or where to pray
*An official state religion cannot be declared
*No laws can be made which are based on establishing a religion
What all this means is; you can not support god on money or the pledge, you can disagree with politicians personal religious beliefs being factors in law making (re: personal belief not establishing their belief as official), you can disagree with that nativity scene in your town center.
If that is how you feel, there is nothing wrong with that. However, what it does not do is violate the separation of church and state.
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