Separation of Church and State

With the recent Supreme Court decision regulating the display of the Ten Commandments at courthouses, and the general anti-religion movemement gaining stunning victories in recent years, I think it appropriate to take a look at the "separation of church and state" clause which is so often quoted in our discourse.

Here's a link to the Constitution if you want to read it, and heres my excerpt:

ARTICLES IN ADDITION TO, AND AMENDMENTS OF, THE CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE [I].

"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."

Now, the first point I wish to raise here concerns the second clause - "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The government shall not prohibit the free exercise of religion - THIS INCLUDES CHRISTIANITY !!

The first clause is what I more particularly wanted to look at - "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." This ensures that the government will not establish a particular brand of religion as the state religion - the very thing many of our Founding Fathers were escaping. This does not say, however, that the government will not support religion in general, and belief in God and morals as essential virtues of every citizen. Quite the contrary, our country is built upon religion and religious principles. Put another way, there are certain principles inherent to any religion which encourange social order and prosperity. Here are a few -

1. Every man, woman and child will eventually have to answer to a Higher Power (God) regarding the acts performed while in this life. Good will be rewarded, and Evil shall be punished.

2. This Earth was created by God.

3. Each of us existed before coming to earth, or at the very least we will continue to exist after we die.
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I might also mention a very important corrolary to number 2, that is that our blessed nation was also brought into existence by God - or at least that His involvement was central to her gaining independance. Nearly all of our Founding Fathers certainly believed this to be so.

Simple logic can show us how, when the citizens of a nation believe these principles, order is encouraged and chaos and crime go down. This is the type of environment in which nations flourish. One of the basic tenets of modern Economics is property rights - if people believe that they will be able to hold on to thier property, then they have incentive to improve what they own because then it becomes more valuable to others - so you can sell it for profit. Economic prosperity is impossible in chaos.

So when man believes he will be punished in Eternity for committing wrongs against his fellow, he is deterred from doing so. Belief in God refines a man in a way nothing else can compare to.

So the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and the government (when it hasnt gone astray) for the past 230 years have encouraged religion. The trick here is to let everyone worship how, where and what they may.