separation of church and state
Religious-governmental divide
Separation of church and state is the principle that government and religious institutions should remain independent of each other—neither controlling nor funding the other.
In U.S. law, it derives from the First Amendment's prohibition on establishing religion.
The phrase itself comes from Thomas Jefferson.
The separation of church and state prevents public schools from requiring prayer.
- First AmendmentConstitutional free expression guarantee
- Bill of RightsInitial constitutional amendments guaranteeing freedoms
- Thomas JeffersonThird American president
- liberalismPhilosophy valuing reform, tolerance
- EnlightenmentEra prioritizing reason over dogma
freedom of religion · James Madison · founding fathers · religious freedom · secularism · pluralism · public square · constitutional democracy · individual autonomy · disestablishment · human rights · judicial review · Reformation · civil liberties · American Revolution · anti-establishmentarianism · Puritanism · tolerance
- ConstitutionBill of Rights, preamble, articles, U.S. Constitution, Article I
- enlightenmentVoltaire, Rousseau, Locke, Kant, Montesquieu
- Secularismsecular humanism, secular state, disestablishment, secularization, secular education
- Baptist beliefsreligious liberty, biblical authority, adult baptism, Lord's Supper, Lords Supper
- Napoleonic codescivil code, commercial code, penal code, civil procedure, criminal procedure
- secularizationsecularization, dechristianization, disaffiliation, secular state, secular society
separation of church and statetheocracy
Rule by religious authority
state religion · established church · ecclesiocracy · hierocracy · divine right of kings
separation of church and statestate church
Government-recognized official religion
national church · religious establishment · religious nationalism · blasphemy laws
separation, separate, separated, separating, separates, separator, separable, inseparable, church