Home Page Commentary 30 January 2000 Church and State

Separation of Church and State

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For those international readers not familiar with the Constitution of the United States, the First Amendment to the Constitution says that Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion. That is, the government cannot name an official religion for the country, nor make laws which give preference to one religion over another. I like to say it this way: “The Government is not in the religion business.”

This prohibition on establishment of religion is also informally known as the separation of Church and State.