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
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.
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.
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
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