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Should There Be A Separation Of Church And State

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Should There be a Separation of Church and State?

In the 1890's, 7 churches combined to create the National Reform Society, ("Church and State"). Their goal included adding religious wordings into the constitution's preamble and combining church and state. After multiple attempts and getting rejected continuously, the group disbanded, but they brought up a very serious question, should there be a separation of church and state? This question has been around since the founding of the United States and has been debated by some of the greatest American minds. There are many sides to this argument supporters believe that it is important because it protects our religious freedom, critics think that the combination of church and state is what the …show more content…

First, it is crucial that we understand the history and background of the separation of church and state, then what supporters believe, and finally what arguments that critics argue.

To understand this debate it is crucial for us to understand what the separation of church and state is, what it affects, and an important case caught between church and state. First, what is the separation of church and state? According to AllAboutHistoy.Org separation of church and state is the government staying out religious affairs and shouldn't influence or be influenced by religion of any particular type ("Separation of Church"). This suggests that the separation of church and state is in place so that the government can't influence or be influenced by religion. It is then necessary to then discuss what the separation of the two effects. The United States constitution …show more content…

The first argument that supporters make is that the separation of church and state is crucial for maintaining religious freedom. William Bradford, a colonial judge, believed and wrote many times that church and state should not mix because back in England as the monarch changed and government changed so did the religion that all people were to follow and that if that were to happen in the U.S. it would be the end of its religious freedom ("Religious Freedom") From this evidence it shows that even in colonial times the settlers knew that if the state and church combined that it would be harder for people to practice their other religions. Another argument supporters make is that it would not benefit and may even hurt those who follow different religions if church and state combine. The Pew Research Center finds that 78.4% of Americans follow some denomination of Christianity. Even though this is a large majority of America, 55% of Americans believe that there should be a separation of church and state for reasons of not benefiting smaller and other religions and their followers ("Separation of Church"). These findings show that a slight majority of Americans believe that if the wall between

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