Why there must be separation of church and state

[PowerballWinner]

No government (not the federal, state, or local) must require its citizens to accept any religion it chooses. Why? What if Utah decides that all citizens must be Mormons and Alabama decides that all citizens must be Southern Baptists. What if an Alabama truck driver drives up to Utah to visit a relative, is he then required to convert to Mormonism and if a Utah painter drives down to Alabama, is she then required to convert to Southern Baptism? What if both states require their citizens to be Christians yet one religion requires its members to believe Christ had blonde hair while the other requires its members to believe Christ had brown hair?

 

[Gonz]

As a non-believer I ask you to do something for me. Point out exactly where the Constitution says the words "seperation" and "church" and "state" in the same paragraph. My copy doesn't include it.

 

[ResearchMonkey]

Gonz is correct,

It says no such thing in the COTUS, however it is found in the former Soviet Union’s Constitution.

 

[Gonz]

Soviet Union’s Constitution.

Words I just can't picture together...Soviet Union and Constitution.


Oh & PW, we've all seen the Supreme Court ruliing so there is no need to post it.

 

[The Other One]

No government (not the federal, state, or local) must require its citizens to accept any religion it chooses.

So what's going on here then:

... The Hamtramck City Council will try to sort through the mess Tuesday in the latest round of what is becoming a lesson in democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Leaders of the Al-Islah Islamic Center asked the council for permission to broadcast calls to prayer — a centuries-old tradition in Islam. A prayer is sung five times a day to invite Muslims to pray. They’re often broadcast by loud speaker in predominantly Muslim countries, but are seldom broadcast in the United States.

The council wrote and approved an amendment to the city’s noise ordinance, sparking waves of outrage from Christian groups across the country that claimed Hamtramck was giving special rights to Muslims.

http://www.detnews.com/2004/religion/0405/23/b03-160686.htm

It must be OK as long as they're muslims

 

[ResearchMonkey]

Secular Humanism is the new state religion, pluralistic beliefs and all that implies.