100% Separation of Church and State

I, if anything, am appalled at some of the things you just said. I took up this debate because it struck a personal chord. But i will try to keep things professional. You stated religion should be separated, so to decide this, we will discern what benefits come from each side and measure them up. First, why your benefits are fake 1. Our currency, motto, and other government items of which you speak are historic. America was founded by religious people for the ability to worship. The phrase "In God We Trust" should not offend anyone. First, God is not capitalized. Well it is, but not in the sense of it's a proper noun. It's a phrase. Every word is upper cased. Thus, it would not offend polytheistic religions because it states in some higher being we trust. that can mean many. next, those monotheistic religions that don't use th word God, but they use the word god. They use it as a noun, not a proper noun. The phrase can mean a noun, thus not offending some religions like Islam. 1 b. Why your side would hurt our country If we changed the motto and our currency, are you aware of how much money and time it would cost us? we would have to reprint EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF CURRENCY. we would even have to replace the MARBLE STATUES in our capitol that say in god we trust on them. Offending some people or spending billions of dollars. I say it is better to remain the same 2. No taxes What you sir, are imposing, is an aristocratic elitist government where only some people are active in the government (rich). Religious institutes only get money through charity. they make no money. how could they possible pay taxes? almost every religious building would be closed down. The only reason our government would have any separation of church and state is because it guarantees liberties. Among them is the right to partake in the government. So you are hypocritical with you second point. 3. Our founding fathers, were Deists. They believed in god. That's besides the point. Before our "founding" fathers came to America, the original colonists practiced religion openly and in the government. Pilgrims, Quakers, Shakers, Protestants, all came so they could practice religion. And furthermore, why should the beliefs of the founding fathers matter? 4. Religon is fake Ok, what the f@#*! If you can prove that every single religion is wrong, i will cede this match. But you can't do that! Religion, real or not, has positive effects. This from http://www.heritage.org... * The strength of the family unit is intertwined with the practice of religion. Churchgoers8 are more likely to be married, less likely to be divorced or single, and more likely to manifest high levels of satisfaction in marriage. * Church attendance is the most important predictor of marital stability and happiness. * The regular practice of religion helps poor persons move out of poverty. Regular church attendance, for example, is particularly instrumental in helping young people to escape the poverty of inner-city life. * Religious belief and practice contribute substantially to the formation of personal moral criteria and sound moral judgment. * Regular religious practice generally inoculates individuals against a host of social problems, including suicide, drug abuse, out-of-wedlock births, crime, and divorce. * The regular practice of religion also encourages such beneficial effects on mental health as less depression (a modern epidemic), more self-esteem, and greater family and marital happiness. * In repairing damage caused by alcoholism, drug addiction, and marital breakdown, religious belief and practice are a major source of strength and recovery. * Regular practice of religion is good for personal physical health: It increases longevity, improves one's chances of recovery from illness, and lessens the incidence of many killer diseases. The overall impact of religious practice is illustrated dramatically in the three most comprehensive systematic reviews of the field.9 Some 81 percent of the studies showed the positive benefit of religious practice, 15 percent showed neutral effects, and only 4 percent showed harm.10 Each of these systematic reviews indicated more than 80 percent benefit, and none indicated more than 10 percent harm. Even this 10 percent may be explained by more recent social science insights into "healthy religious practice" and "unhealthy religious practice."11 This latter notion will be discussed later -- it is seen generally by most Americans of religious faith as a mispractice of religion. Unfortunately, the effects of unhealthy religious practice are used to downplay the generally positive influence of religion.12 This both distorts the true nature of religious belief and practice and causes many policymakers to ignore its positive social consequences. This is all just part of it. Read the rest of the website and learn something