One can awknowldege, record, and teach the important effect of religious thinking on American history while maintaining separation of church and state. That separation further allows for a more objective appraisal of American history by suppressing official religious bias. Because religion does not, and (according to establishment clause) should not, inform city, state or federal law, the governments' references to religion cannot serve to summarize, explain, or glorify the governments or their laws. The only function these references serve is religious propaganda, which is incompatible with the secular civic values America was built on.
It should also be noted that many of the federal government's modern references to religion were implemented during the cold war, replacing secular ones with more legal and historic precedence, so if one is truly interested in the preservation of civic tradation, one should condemn these religious references as politically motivated breaks from civic traditions.
Be the first to reply to this disagreement.