Should the State be more secular?

[Deborah]

Should Church and State be separated further? Should the State be more
secular, i.e. should government not impose any specific religion?

If so, should the words "under God" be taken out of the Pledge of
Allegiance? For years, a California father is challenging teacher-led
recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/14/scotus.pledge/

Michael Newdow started this case, as he did not want his young daughter
exposed to the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance used at
ceremonies at his daughter's school. Michael initially won that case
more than two years ago before a federal appeals court, which said it
was an unconstitutional blending of church and state for public school
students to pledge to God.

But in June 2004, the Supreme Court said that Michael Newdow could not
lawfully sue because he did not have custody of his elementary
school-aged daughter, on whose behalf he sued, and because the girl's
mother objected to the suit.

Michael has now refiled the pledge-suit in the Sacramento federal
court, naming eight other plaintiffs who are custodial parents or the
children themselves.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2005/jan/06/010607562.html

[Deborah]

The links accompanying this issue on the web are also quite relevant.
I'll add some below, to see if they stay the same over time! Ahh, good
to see advertisement that works! But that's another issue!

Keep God in our Country
Pledge, School prayer, Commandments
In God we Trust!
http://www.CrossedAmerican.com

Pledge of Allegiance
News, analysis of First Amendment issues over "under God" phrase.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org

The Freethought Library - Church and State
A collection of articles dealing with church and state issues.
http://freethought.freeservers.com

Separation of Church and State: FAQ
What is the separation of church and state?
http://atheism.about.com

American Association of School Administrators - Issues and ...
http://www.aasa.org

[Mr_E]

Yes. A more secular state is more representative of ALL the cultures
and religions it's citizens embody rather than being biased toward a
single faith.
Plus fundamentalist superstates just don't work as well as their
secular counterparts and promote less freedom and democracy (and after
all, isnt that what you american's want the world to be given?)

[Deborah]

David, I don't understand your reference to the Dark Ages. Wasn't
religion more in control of society in the Dark Ages? What about the
Inquisition, the witch-hunts, etc?

============== David wrote: ========
>NO WAY. Dark Ages are a perfect example of what can happen if the
>state is secular. I just think more attention needs to be paid to the
>spiritual side of life. Free of religion. Just all the devines truths
>that we all agree on. This can be a basis for morality in society, if
>the current religion free style of state is forgetting these issues.

[John]

Actually, the Dark Ages is not synonymous with the Middle Ages. The
Dark Ages refers to a period of time during which Roman power declined
over Western Europe, which was then plunged into tumultuous decades of
barbarian raids and more barbarian raids. Eventually Europe worked
itself out of this, certainly by the time of Charlemagne. It is old
thinking to consider the entire period of the Middle Ages as a period
of little human progress. That isn't the case.

[Deborah]

I'd agree that there was human progress over the period of the Middle
Ages, although we may disagree how to define this. But what I wonder
about is this: wouldn't there have been more progress with more
separation between State and Church? The same could be asked for the
future.

There are actually a number of questions we should consider.

Firstly, what is the long-term trend? Are ever fewer people attending
church, and is this going hand in hand with a declining influence of
religion over society?

According to a recent survey, only a minority of Britons (44%) now
believe in God, compared with 77% in a Gallop poll taken in 1968.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/britainreligion

Of those who said they believed in God, hardly any went to church
regularly.
http://www.yougov.com/yougov_website/asp_besPollArchives/pdf/STI040101003_2.pdf

If there is indeed such a decline, is this the case of all religions?
Are some religions gaining in popularity? What do people believe in?
What are the trends?

Secondly, what about separation of Church and State? In a country with
a diverse range of religions, belief systems, philosophies and "looks
at life", doesn't it make sense for government to take a more neutral
position in all this?

If you think the latter is correct, then should government departments
rule out Christmas parties and stop sending 'merry Christmas' wishes to
staff? Should Christmas be a public holiday, or Easter? Should shops
and schools be closed on Sunday? Should the word 'God' be taken out of
the Pledge of Allegiance? Should the words 'in God we trust' be on
coins and bills, etc, etc.?