Separation of Church and State: Understanding AU's Terminology
(CHART #9)

   According to Americans United and their allies on the Left: "Religious
liberty can be guaranteed only in a secular state." This was the purpose
for erecting their "wall of separation" between church and state -- to
separate the religious from the secular.

   Also referred to as "religious neutrality," the secular state required
that Christ and the church must retreat from all areas where government
invaded. The end result of "religious neutrality" is the
non-acknowledgment of God. An "official" acknowledgment of God by
government, according to AU, would constitute a violation of the
"Establishment Clause" of the First Amendment.

   AU's logic goes like this: a "_wall of separation_" between church and
state is essential for the creation of a "_secular state_." The "secular
state" is essential for the existence of "_religious liberty_." The
secular state is defined as "religious neutrality" on the part of the
state. "_Religious neutrality_" means that both the acknowledgment of God
and the advocating of religious principle and values through legislation
or education is a violation of the "Establishment Clause" of the First
Amendment.

   However, some AU leaders continue to proclaim that "'Separation' should
never have meant separation of God from government or religion from
politics." Yet the separation of God from government and the separation
of biblical principle and values from politics is exactly what AU's
"wall of separation" was intended to accomplish.

   And so it has.

From: St. Louis MetroVoice, May 1995, Vol. 5, No. 5.

