The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries.

The separation of church and state is necessary partly because if religion is good then the state shouldn't interfere with the religious vision or with the religious prophet. There must be a realm of truth beyond political competence, that's why there must be a separation of churches, but if religion is bad and a bad religion is one that gives an ultimate sanctity to some particular cause. Then religion mustn't interfere with the state — so one of the basic Democratic principles as we know it in America is the separation of church and state. ... A church has the right to set its own standards within its community. I don't think it has a right to prohibit birth control or to enforce upon a secular society its conception of divorce and the indissolubility of the marriage tie.

We separate church and state affairs in this country, and for good reason. No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state interfere with the free practice of religion. But in recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning. They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God. Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America - the religion of secularism. They are wrong.

I don't believe there is a separation of church and state. I think the Constitution is very clear. The only separation is that there will not be a government church.

The separation of church and state is extremely important to any of us who hold to the original traditions of our nation. To change these traditions by changing our traditional attitude toward public education would be harmful, I think, to our whole attitude of tolerance in the religious area.

:Where in the Constitution is separation of church and state?

:Let me just clarify. You're telling me that the separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment?

Don’t tell me about no separation of church and state. State is the body. Church is the heart. You take the heart out of the body, the body dies.

Today courts wrongly interpret separation of church and state to mean that religion has no place in the public arena, or that morality derived from religion should not be permitted to shape our laws. Somehow freedom for religious expression has become freedom from religious expression. Secularists want to empty the public square of religion and religious-based morality so they can monopolize the shared space of society with their own views.

Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private school supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate.

The exact phrase "separation of church and state" came out of Adolf Hitler's mouth, that's where it comes from. So the next time your liberal friends talk about the separation of church and state, ask them why they're Nazis.

The separation of state and church must be complemented by the separation of state and science, that most recent, most aggressive, and most dogmatic religious institution.

During the period of Socialism and Communism in many countries of Eastern Europe, there was a tendency requiring the separation of the bishops from the Pope, the priests from the bishop and the faithful from the priests. The purpose was the need to fragment the Church in order that no one could ever reconstruct it again. Nevertheless, this did not occur. The bishops played a decisive role.

Leave the matter of religion to the family altar the church and the private school supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate.