We either have separation of church and state or we don't.

One of many principles that baffles me about Christians who are also politically conservative is their unabashed effort to try and make the United States into what they term a "Christian nation." This desire is baffling to me since the reason the colonies were founded was to allow for freedom of religion, supposedly, the freedom to worship as one chooses, along with the right to not worship if one chooses, and the freedom of no state religion.


The United States founding fathers were so concerned about this, that they incorporated this principle into the United States Constitution as a 1st Amendment guarantee.


The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states:


"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."


This amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791, as part of the Bill of Rights. It protects several fundamental freedoms. The First Amendment applies to federal, state, and local governments through the process of incorporation via the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.


In 1644, Roger Williams, founder of the Rhode Island colony, called for a wall of separation of church and state to "prevent the corruption of both," and by 1833, all states had disestablished themselves with any government or state sponsored association with religion.


In 1947, the United States Supreme Court first used the phrase “separation of church and state and applied it as a Constitutional guarantee. So the principle has roots going all the way back to the establishment of the colonies.


Now, fundamentalist Christians, with the support of conservative politicians, want to bring religion into the public schools. What is notable is, they only want to bring one religion into the public schools, and that is the Christian religion. So much for the freedom to worship or not worship as one chooses!!! Conservative Christians are very free to throw other religious freedoms out the window, but want to demand the posting of the 10 commandments in classrooms in public schools. Remember, these schools are supported by public tax dollars. Conservative Christians are just one segment of the population who pay federal, state and local government taxes, and yet, they desire to have their religious beliefs front and center, to the exclusion of all other religious symbols and beliefs, not to mention those who do not believe in God or who do not embrace traditional religious beliefs. I can't be the only one who sees the hypocrisy there.


What is being tried is actually the establishment of a religion, the Christian religion, all under the guise of religious freedom. This would be laughable if it were not so serious. And it isn't like conservative Christians have no options. There are "conservative Christian" schools and universities all over this country. Conservative Christians also want a chunk of our tax dollars to support these schools, while trying to banish the free expression of other religious beliefs. It's a classic case of wanting it all, and if your beliefs do not fit into their little restrictive box of values, then you don't count, but you have no choice but to go along with their doctrinal and dictatorial beliefs.


In red states where conservative Christians predominate, not only do you see attacks on separation of church and state, but you have attacks on a woman's right to choose, attacks on people who worship and believe differently than they do, and you have books being banned from public school and public library shelves, and well as revisionist history being taught in public schools. To me, this is all very wrong because it slants what public school students are exposed to, and definitely promotes values not all parents want to see their children exposed to. I am of the belief that a child's religious education should be separate from their learning in public schools, and I want our public schools to teach diverse points of view, and expose students to all types of people with different values, so they can see how life is in the real world.


I am so grateful to my parents and teachers who provided me with the opportunity to meet people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs. I think this is one of the reasons I wholeheartedly embrace diversity today. It's definitely why I support LGBTQ rights, affirmative action and oppose any type of discriminationn

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