Throughout history, this topic has generated much of controversy. Ancient history is full of examples of the state or governing authorities interfering with religion. There were rulers or kings that assumed various “priestly” titles, like the “temporal” titles that their offices command. An example of such state-church mixing and melding, led to the execution of Socrates, for his disrespect for the gods( in Biblical times, like kings of Israel were anointed by Priests, as a sign of God’s approval. This is why separation of church and state is bad for America.
For centuries, Monarchs ruled by the idea of divine right. This later metamorphosed into monarchs ruling over church’s administration in a way. There was this catholic doctrine that the
Pope, as Vicar of Christ on earth, should have authority over the church on earth and indirectly over the state. This led to claims in the middle ages that the pope has authority to depose
Catholic kings and they did try to exercise this authority. Thus in the medieval times in western world, monarch who ruled in secular world tend to encroach on the church’s rule of the spiritual sphere. This led to power struggles and crises. In the 1530s, Henry VIII, rejected the annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon by the Pope. He consequently, formed the
Church of England (Anglican Church) and set himself as the ruler of the new church, thus ending the separation that had existed between the church and the state of England. From that period on, the Monarchs of Great Britain have retained ecclesiastic authority in the Church of England with the title Supreme Governor of the Church of England. This eventually led to anti-
Catholicism and others who were against The church of England, subsequently religious persecution. One of the results of the persecution was that some fled Great Britain in hopes of religious freedom to the American colonies. After the American colonies revolted against King
George III, the Constitution of United States was written to guide against the State’s interference with religion.
The Protestant Reformation also has a part to play in the concept of the “separation of church and state”. Thus Martin Luther wrote and articulated the doctrine of the two kingdoms, during this periodand marked the beginning of the modern concept of separation of church and state. To look critically at this topic, we would have to study the genesis of the concept in the United States, we need to recall that the first immigrants to United States were included those that were persecuted in Europe for their spiritual beliefs. Having faced religious persecution in Europe, they were not ready to allow such an experience to be entrenched in this New found land. Initially, some o the colonies established continued with the European system of making a denomination the religion of the colony. For example the New Netherland colony had the Dutch Reformed Church as the only denomination in the colony and all other denominations were prohibited. Although other colonies allowed multiple denominations and protected them, like Roger Williams of Rhode Island. Colonies of Massachusetts, New Haven and New
Hampshire had Puritans, Calvinist, Catholics and other Protestants denominations. While colonies like New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia were established by immigrants that had Church of England as their denomination. In most cases, the founders of such colonies determined the denomination that is either established for the state or are predominant. Based on these facts, observations and the recollection of religious persecution in
Europe. Hence early immigrants To the United States proposed to have a place to worship freely without being persecuted.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution was introduced; “Congress shall not make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof
……”. In addition there were clauses inserted to prevent discrimination against individuals of certain denominations, like article IV “no religion test shall be required as qualification to any office or public Trust….”Thomas Jefferson is believed to be the first person to popularize the phrase “Separation of State and religion”, in his letter of January 1, 1802 to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut, a religious minority concerned about the dominant position of the
Congregationalist church in Connecticut.Thomas Jefferson’s influential Virginia Statute for religious Freedom was enacted in 1786. Jefferson concept of “separation of church and state” made him to refuse to issue Proclamations of Thanksgiving sent to him by Congress during his presidency, although he did issue a Thanksgiving and Prayer proclamation while he was
Governor of Virginia. In case of Madison, he did issue four religious proclamation as President, but vetoed two bills on the grounds that they violated the first amendment. But on the other hand, both of them attended religious services at the capitol. Madison alter wrote that Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of government.

The wide diversity of opinion on Christian theological matters in the newly formed American
States, the Constitutional Convention believed a government established religion would disrupt rather than bind the newly formed union together. This is because the immigrants were from different countries of Europe with different denominations, like Church of England, The Dutch
Reformed Church, The Puritans, Catholics, The Quakers , Baptist among many others. Some
Ministers of the gospel like Isaac Backus, a Baptist Minister in New England also spoke out in support of the principle of “separation of Church and State”, believing it will bring peace and more harmony rather than divisions that an established religion will cause. In essence the First
Amendment was to ensure that no denomination was adopted as a State religion but rather to give every one opportunity to worship God without interference or persecution. The
Amendment was not against doctrinal religion. For instance, in 1892, the Supreme Court gave
What was termed “Trinity decision” in which it was stated that “this is a Christian nation”.

President John Quincy Adams once wrote that “the highest glory of the American Revolution was it connected in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government in the principles of Christianity”.Moreover, most of the founders of United States of America were Christians; it is estimated that 90-95% were practicing Trinitarian Christians, believing in the concept of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Thomas Jefferson himself was a registered member of the Church of England (Anglican Church). Hence, we can see that the mind-set of the founding fathers of United States and thus the First Amendment was not against doctrinal religion of Christianity but rather making a denomination a State religion as it was in England, while other denominations were persecuted. Christianity was actually seen to be vital to the success of government. This made early Presidents always quoting from the Bible, a tradition that has continued in the inaugural speeches of all the Presidents. God was inscribed and seen in public places. For example, the Speaker of the House in Congress stand, has “In God we
Trust”.In the 1930s the Supreme Court had carvings of Moses and the Ten Commandments in it. God is mentioned in the stone walls of Washington DC, and is on monuments and buildings as well. Oaths in courtrooms have involved God from the beginning; prayers are said at the swearing in of Presidents; each President was sworn in on the bible, saying the words “so help me God”. In addition, the national anthem mentions God, the liberty bell has a bible verse inscribed on it and Chaplains for the Congress have always been on public payrolls. All these justify the fact that this nation was not intended to be a secular State. We should not also forget the fact that Bible has been used as text books in public schools. However, with the passage of time, the principle of “Separation of Church and State” has been either misunderstood or used as a political pun. The advent of the Liberal groups and organizations like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and American United For
Separation of Church and State has driven the original intent of the First Amendment to the far left, where United States is deemed to be a secular State. This has created anti-religious bias, especially against Christianity. Some believe the separation of church and state to mean a complete separation of religious values from public policy. Although there others that believe religion should impact morality but should not influence policy making. Compounding this problem are “activist” Judges with anti-religious bias to the court room. In one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in the separation of church and state in regards to education, Justices William Douglas and Hugo Black concurred that religious schools are by nature harmful. How do they arrive at such a decision, knowing fully well the long history of the positive impact of Christian schools in this country and especially in third world Countries. In the Third World countries it was the Churches that first brought education to them and has had a very positive influence in impacting knowledge and morality.
The outcome of all these is the fact that the society has degenerated in a way that morality and uprightness is at the lowest ebb. The conscience of many has been severed leading to increase in crime and breakdown of family virtues. The fear of God is no longer relevance. Politicians do not want to offend anybody so that they will not be voted out of office. Hence, being politically correct has led many to shy away from the beliefs of the founding fathers. Prayer was removed from schools and the Bible is no longer to be referred to. What used to be a sort of moral compass for the family and the society, the Bible, is no more relevant. Advances in technology cannot replace the place of religion in the society. In recent times, Christians have started to get into this discourse with a view of re-enacting the presumed thoughts of the founding fathers of United States. For example, Pat Robertson began the Christian Coalition in response to counter the perceived purge of this nation’s history and government of Christianity. For Christians to have influence in direction the country should go, he stated that one of the objectives of the Christian Coalition is that “Christians have got to do is too take back the country, one precinct at a time, one neighborhood at a time, one State at a time”. Late Jerry Falwell was one of the voices of the Christian Coalition that fought against the current interpretation being giving to the First Amendment. He said that “Any diligent student of American history will find that our great nation was founded by godly men upon godly principles to be a Christian nation”. Another writer who has voiced his opinion on this is John
Whitehead in his book “The Separation Illusion”. He wrote that “In recent years Christians and non-Christians alike have been questioning whether America was ever a Christian nation.
Without doubt it was, but secular historians have eradicated as much Christian influence as possible from history”.There is no doubt that United States has been blessed as a nation because the Founding Fathers built its government on Christian principles regarding human nature and theistic view of reality. We enjoy common grace as a people when our laws conform to God’s standard of justice. But there is this conceived fear that Christians may want to impose their beliefs on all the citizens. This has become more apparent because of the inflow of other cultures to the United States especially in the late twentieth century. The United States has does become a melting pot of a sort, with diverse religion being introduced; Buddahism, Islam,
Hindu, Arising from this fact is a new concept of “Positive Neutrality”. This promotes the idea that both religious structures and the State possess a certain degree of sovereignty over their respective domains. Each possesses certain rights and responsibilities and should be free without interference from the other. A Dutch Protestant once wrote this in pursue of this principle, “The sovereignty of the State and the sovereignty of the Church exist side by side, and they mutually limit each other.” In fact Christians can find support for this view in the Bible; I Peter 2:13-15 statesTherefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who are good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men”. Also Romans 13:1 says that “let every soul be subject to governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God”.
Positive neutrality concept proposes that religious organizations have both rights and responsibilities. They have the right to teach their core beliefs, to shape their members behavior and attitudes, to provide a wide range of services to members and non-members and to participate in the policy making process of the republic.. On the responsibility side, they must accept and seek to enhance the authority and legitimacy of the State and not to undermine it.. to encourage its members to obey its lawful decisions . And for Christians such decisions must not contradict the Bible. They should also seek to develop civic virtue that enhances public life and not attempt to take over those things given to the State to perform. This does not mean they do not have the right to criticize the State. Recently, the newly elected Pope, Pope Francis has been criticize for not speaking out against the atrocity of the State in Argentina when many people went missing during the dictatorial rules of the 1970s and 1980s. Also the State has certain responsibilities and rights. The government should make decisions that coordinate, protect, encourage and empower society’s various spheres of influence (including the religious sphere) with the goal of promoting justice, the common good and other similar goals. The State is not to interfere with the sovereignty of other spheres, although there may be times when it is appropriate to do so as in the case of Waco in Texas. They can also interfere by giving material aids to religious organizations. To do this successfully, the political system would have to tolerate and accommodate a wider range of religious practices.
Secondly, the rights of religious groups must be protected to influence public policies. Also instead of working only through secular non-profit organizations, the government should fund the activities of religious organizations engaged in humanitarian activities. President George Bush, the 43rd President, initiated something of this nature.The Courts have had their own share interference through their ruling in many cases that involve the issue of separation of Church and State. It is believed that the courts in general base their rulings on three cardinal principles which instead of promoting the original idea of the First Amendment has created a very unclear line what it was presume to be or isn’t. The three are firstly, the issue must have a secular purpose, secondly, it cannot further any religious course. And lastly it must not cause excessive entanglement between religion and State. Hence, state-composed prayers were banned together with Bible reading, the Lord’s prayer and the posting of the 10 Commandments among others. This actually led to bias against the religious for the secular and not neutrality. Thus many of the citizens are unhappy against the government’s current stand which is against religious beliefs. Until the issue is fully addressed by carefully examining the early fathers reasoning and dealing with the actual meaning of the First Amendment, which has nothing to do with “Separation of Church and State” per se, this question will continue to cause dissention.

References:
Benard G W.(2005) The king’s
Religion and Founding of the American Republic (website)
Dr. D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcomb, “What if America were a Christian Nation”.
Henry VII, Britannia History
Feldman Noah (2005); Divided by God
Jefferson Thomas: Jefferson’s Letters to the Danbury Baptist Church. The Library of Congress Information bulletin
Committee for Public Education and religious Liberty publication
Rights of the People: Individual Freedom and bill of Rights
John Whitehead “The Separation Illusion”, 1977
Stephen V. Monsma; Positively Neutality, Baker Books 1993.
Don Closson and Robin Riggs; Church and State