From the Peter Woll reader on the Supreme Court case Engle v. Vitale Justice Black’s opinion on the case “It is neither sacrilegious nor anti religious to say that each separate government in this country should stay out the business of writing or sanctioning official prayers and leave the purely religious function to the people themselves and to those the people choose to look to for religious guidance.” I think that thats the most interesting part of the argument. Not only is the union of church and state wrong because tax payer money is going to fund religions that the individual might not support, but also because it isn’t good for the religion in question.
Religion weakens and undermines the state, it takes its power that ought to be logically granted to it and regularly revised as times changed, and introduces the idea of faith into the government where it is not only out of place but outright dangerous.
Government, likewise, cannot legislate religion because the state exists to make people do thing that they do not want to do, like pay taxes and jail criminals. An entity that is formed to make people do things has no business in something as intimate and personal as faith. The two don’t jell.
Good luck with your debate!