Do you think church and state are truly seperate?

I believe in the seperation of church and foundation.

Not in the USA, no. Faith-based funding began under Clinton and was accelerated under Bush.

Sweden is officially Lutheran and has brilliantly neutered the church by making it the agency for births, deaths, weddings, etc. Yet the church follows state laws. The church is so busy with paperwork, it doesn't have time to bother people. My first cousin lives there, and on her wedding day the minister couldn't be found. It was a Saturday, so the minister decided to go wind surfing!

Our concept of "Separation of Church and State" is UNIQUE to this country. We are the only country who has codified the idea into law with the First Amendment.

And YES, it is separate. But that don't mean that some zealots are not trying to get their hands on the public square in order to propel their message to the masses.

Even our Founding Fathers looked low on the idea of religion in the National scheme of things, hence the reason for the First Amendment. Read some of the musings of Thomas Jefferson and see his take on the place of religion in the national conscience. His words will certainly give you another point of view on the matter.

http://www.nobeliefs.com/jefferson.htm

In the United States, no. There are way too many preachers advising their church members how to vote and who to campaign for, and there are too many bluenoses in elected and appointed offices, trying to legislate their religious moral code as a code for social conduct.

Great Britain--no

France--Yes

Russia--Yes

Ukraine--Yes

Germany--Yes

Afghanistan--No

Egypt--Not really**

Saudi Arabia--No

Turkey--Yes

Greece--No

Italy--No

Switzerland--Yes

Iran--Definitely not, Islamic Republic

Jordan--Obviously not, as the only Hashemite Kingdom

Syria--Lip service to Religion

Lebanon--Probably yes, if the country is to survive

Israel--Probably the most separate in the Middle East, extensive, enforced laws to protect religious sites for all religions.

For me, it doesn't matter. My Faith directs me to obey the laws of the legally constituted government, except that I do not have to recant if my Faith is made illegal.

Depends on what you mean by "truly separate". Government is made up of people, and those people have religious or spiritual beliefs which will influence their decisions. It's unavoidable.

As long as the government on balance remains secular, then it's not a huge problem. Unfortunately in the U.S. that's becoming harder to maintain.

Okay well, first of all to seperate church aka religion from the state you would have to say that no one could believe anything, because if they did believe in something then they would be influenced by their beliefs. A muslim has just as complex a belief system as a christian and as an atheist. So I think the whole concept is quite ridiculous really. As far as church and state being seperate now, yes I would say there is quite a large disconnect between murdering unborn children and church doctrine.

No not at all. Look at the current presidential race. The candidates are expected to announce their religious beliefs, and are held accountable for things their pastors do. I would rather a candidate not even mention religion, ever. But then people would assume they weren't religious and they wouldn't have a chance. Sad really.

Yes, the Church should have no business being involved in politics as God only teaches unconditional love and understanding. There is no room for politics in church teaching..

Not even a little bit. We have a staunchly religious (Christian) president who opposes gay marriage. Probably doesn't have much to do with property laws.

No matter how far we ran from England to escape the Church, we are a country run by primarily white, Christian men. Welcome to the American monarchy.

No since the government is for the people by the people, and the people are religious, they influence how the government is ran,so it can never truly be seperate. Why do you think there is no gay marriage?

I'll quote soulth park

"if you don't like it you can gittt out!"

haha

No - they have the same agenda. Make us stupid, restless, hyper, sensitive and afraid ... whilst we have to pay high taxes, fees, donations for pastors etc ....

I don't trust either. I'm very synical here.

Sorry to say this - but the state and the church have always been the one and only cause of war, ignorance and poverty ... not to mention illness,

Let free trade reign!