Is there a wall of separation between Church and Sate?
Well, what’s a wall of separation?
We all know there could be MORE religious stuff going on in government, like it could be establishing a state religion.
And we all know there could be LESS religious stuff going on in government, like all governmental officers could be forbidden from praying.
So we have a range of minimum to maximum religious stuff going on in government, and we’re somewhere in the middle, by any measure.
Identify where we are on that range, and check whether or not it’s above or below “wall of separation between Church and State” level.
Except, once you’ve identified where we are on the range, you’ve already fully described the reality of the situation. The word you use as a referent for that reality is a comparatively trivial manner. People might (and do) argue about which words we “should” use to describe reality, but right now, most of them argue about the words and think they’re arguing about reality.
Just like the sound vs no sound people on the fallen tree question
We all know there could be MORE religious stuff going on in government, like it could be establishing a state religion.
And we all know there could be LESS religious stuff going on in government, like all governmental officers could be forbidden from praying.
Sigh. The separation of church and state has quite well-specified meaning in the constitutional law. If you want to define it, look up the appropriate legal authority. Hint: it doesn’t have much to do with forbidding government officials to pray.
I’d like to see an example of how you resolve these.
Is there a wall of separation between Church and Sate?
Well, what’s a wall of separation?
We all know there could be MORE religious stuff going on in government, like it could be establishing a state religion.
And we all know there could be LESS religious stuff going on in government, like all governmental officers could be forbidden from praying.
So we have a range of minimum to maximum religious stuff going on in government, and we’re somewhere in the middle, by any measure.
Identify where we are on that range, and check whether or not it’s above or below “wall of separation between Church and State” level.
Except, once you’ve identified where we are on the range, you’ve already fully described the reality of the situation. The word you use as a referent for that reality is a comparatively trivial manner. People might (and do) argue about which words we “should” use to describe reality, but right now, most of them argue about the words and think they’re arguing about reality.
Just like the sound vs no sound people on the fallen tree question
Sigh. The separation of church and state has quite well-specified meaning in the constitutional law. If you want to define it, look up the appropriate legal authority. Hint: it doesn’t have much to do with forbidding government officials to pray.
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States
Ah, yes, but is that really a “wall of separation of church and state?”
Here’s a religious test: does the official NOT pray on the job?
Separation of church and state is a requirement for official agnosticism, not official atheism.