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Highlands Today

Separation Of Church And State

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William R. Knowles

Published: December 1, 2007

The separation of church and state is not meant to expel God from our schools or government functions. Our founding fathers established that separation so that no particular branch of organized religion could force their way of worshipping God to be the only way.

One of the reasons immigrants came to the United States was so that they could be free to worship as they pleased. Separation of church and state simply guarantees that no one branch of religion, be it Protestant, Catholic, Islam, Buddhist or any of the worlds many other religions, is sanctioned by the state. To include prayers or rites from one of these religions in our schools and not include similar prayers from all of them has the effect of the state promoting that one religion.

You may not think it's wrong to promote in your local school the particular religion you follow, but think how you would feel if every day prayers were offered in a different religion than yours and you had no option but to listen. In many other countries this is the case, it should not be here.

God is not expelled from the schools. You may take Him and the lessons He teaches about life with you everywhere you go. no matter what your particular faith is, if you worship God at home and in your church and follow His teachings, He is everywhere you go, including the schools.

There is nothing wrong with voting for someone who believes as you do, just don't vote for someone just because he or she says they want prayer in our schools. Let schools teach what they are supposed to teach. Included in those things is that the state has no right to tell us how to worship.

William R. Knowles
Avon Park

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