What exactly is the separation of church and state? And what does it have to do with He-Man?
Political pop quiz. Disable the pause button, Camera Guy; ’cause that’s cheating.
You want to learn something? Learn it on your own time. Oh, wait.
Pencils up. Begin.
The words “separation of church and state” appear in:
(A) The US Constitution;
(B) The Declaration of Independence;
(C) The Bill of Rights, which is the first ten amendments to the Constitution, but of course you already knew that;
(D) The US Constitution and The Declaration of Independence;
(E) The Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights;
(F) The Bill of Rights and the Constitution;
(G) All of the Above;
(H) None of the Above; or
(I) Some of the Above.
Mark all that apply. Aaaand, time’s up, pencils down. What? It was only one question.
The answer is (B), no (D). Just kidding, (C). Ha! It’s gotta be (I), (H), or (G). Really. Seriously. Did you even think about this?
The real answer is actually (H), none of the above. Surprised? Of course you’re not. I mean you are, but you’re not.
Wait a minute, you’re hearing about it all the time in the news, right? The fight about having the Ten Commandments in a courtroom or whether or not kids should be praying to Obama?
The separation of church and state is one of the hallmarks of American freedom. Here’s the problem: misconception. Not only do you not know where to find the phrase “separation of church and state,” most people don’t even know what it means. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Some of you are very smart. Maybe you know what it means.
Pop quiz. Two page essay before you leave class.
Here’s the deal: separation of church and state doesn’t have to be explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, because it’s already in there. Where, you ask? It’s built in by omission. There’s no state-sponsored religion. Ask yourself this question: is there just one legal religion in the US? Or is it like Iran, Egypt, and Pakistan–places where there’s only one legal religion and no separation between church and state.
I feel like I should clarify something. Our nation is technically not a Christian nation. *GASP* Nope. And it never has been. It was founded on enlightened Christian ideals, and I say enlightened because the founding fathers allowed for other religions to exist. You know, non-Christian religions. It’s that freedom to worship space monkeys if you want.
And you have to remember, when the Constitution was drafted, religious freedom wasn’t really en vogue. “Freedom of religion? Heretics.”
That’s probably going to make some of our viewers mad; but, like it or not, the teachings of Jesus Christ are not established laws in America. Based on them, but not established laws, so technically it’s not a Christian nation. Sure, Christian ideals were the inspiration for the freedoms we enjoy; and some things like “Thou shalt not kill” made it on to the law books, you know in one form or another. But that being said, people still act shocked that some of our laws may actually have religious roots. What? Well, when you live in a country founded on religious principles it shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise.
I know everyone’s heard about the Supreme Court ruling on removing the Ten Commandments off an Alabama courthouse. Interestingly enough, Moses and the Ten Commandments are depicted on the architecture of the Supreme Court building, too. But they’re not tearing that down. Whether you like those stone carvings or not, it’s part of our history and it seems a little sad to me that people are so eager to get rid of it just because they disagree with what it says. It’s like a western version of when the Taliban whipped out their AK-47s and went to town on an eighteen-hundred-year-old statue of Buddha. “We don’t like this place’s history, so we’re just going to tear it down and pretend it didn’t happen.” Great plan. Way to preserve our cultural heritage. We’re Americans, we don’t have any culture.
Now that we’ve told you what it is, we will also tell you what it isn’t. Separation of church and state is not the elimination of all religious influence in government, as some people use it these days. I heard an acquaintance of mine advocating not voting based on your religious beliefs, as if everyone should become agnostic at the polls. The right to vote based on your view of the world is a fundamental one, and all of our laws are based on morality–what we as a nation believe is right and wrong. If people weren’t allowed to vote based on their religious convictions that would be a kind of state-sponsored religion: an atheistic religion. And that would be taking away from the separation of church and state, because it’s someone telling you what you have to believe. Yes, atheism is its own religion–a replacement for other religion, a belief that there is no God.
Time to switch gears. *GRAWWW, GRRAWW*
You know how He-Man would always say something like, “Stop, Skeletor, you don’t know what you’re doing;” but then Skeletor would never listen and he’d just call He-Man a fool and then go along with his plan and wind up in a ton of trouble which He-Man would have to bail him out of? There are some very vocal groups out there who want to take away church tax-exempt status. This might be a less effective strategy. Yeah, in the short run, if you don’t like religious influence in government, taking away church tax-exempt status looks like a win because it takes away some of their money. But it’s not. It could actually be the most counter-productive thing you could possibly do. First of all, just because you take away a church’s special tax status doesn’t mean their congregations will dry up over night. In fact, it might be perceived as an attack and increase their zealousness.
Is that a word? That’s a word. Zealousness. Look it up.
All you’ll really do is force churches to incorporate; but guess what, over the last hundred years, big businesses have perfected the art of paying as little tax as possible. Right now churches generally avoid political involvement, because they might lose their tax-exempt status. They don’t overtly campaign for political candidates or directly contribute to them, but you take away that status and there will be no more inhibitions. This may effectually turn every church in America into a lobbying organization. And once they’re corporations and not churches anymore they can start doing all sorts of exciting things like openly endorsing candidates, giving huge monetary donations directly to the causes they support, and using their church facilities for political rallies. Whoops. You see, they don’t do all that right now. And the leash that’s holding them back is their tax-exempt status. Just think about the trade-off. You’ll be taking away a little bit of their money and giving them the unlimited ability to influence government. And that’s provided their congregations don’t start giving them more because they feel threatened. If that happens, well, then you’ve lost in every measurable way. Like I said, not a great strategy. Unless of course your goal all along was to make the majority of American religious institutions into lobbying corporations, drastically increasing religious influence in American government. In which case, you nailed it. *thumbs up*
No, stop, Skeletor, you don’t know what you’re doing.
And just in case you’re wondering, in 1802 president Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association that the first amendment had built a, quote, wall of separation between church and state; and that’s where the famous phrase comes from. Class dismissed.
“I have the power!”
Transcribed by: TS
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51 Comments
Mati
Atheists need to accept that the only human beings that have a lack of belief are dead human beings. ...Dogtags
If you will permit me, I wrote a short article about how the church is holding on to the tax ...Dogtags
nhodge, You haven't seen the "right to privacy" because you are just not looking at "emanations from penumbras." That is ...Butterfly
Actually seperation of church and state does appear in one leagal document that I know of. The Utah constitution. Boring ...lobe
I totally already knew the whole source of Sep. Church/State. Go me. Besides that, fantastic video.asbauer
where did you get your information for this video??nhodge
This video is the one that got me completely hooked on the show. It got me thinking about other ...JimmytheNoob
Interesting how even the church are willing to give up some of their ability to "spread the word of God" ...marc
I worship space monkeys!drumdudguy
First off, glad to see you guys back, I haven't been to this site in awhile, and thought I'd check ...vwmads
like i've said on youtube whether you think so or not, atheism is a religion.Guin
Wow ! Thanks for giving me a sense of reminiscence... I havent thought about that show (He-man) since i was ...socalcutie82 [22]
Sorry I'm late seeing this but thanks for the video...we really enjoyed it and will save this as a perfect ...pkw
Beautiful. Love your example of "Thinking Beyond Step 1". Awesome.Swip
Zealousness: Adjective. full of, characterized by, or due to zeal; ardently active, devoted, or diligent. Origin: 1520–30; < ML ...Pheonix_blu{207}
also I wish there was an edit feature on the page so I could go back and fix all my ...Pheonix_blu{207}
You know, Ive been following the flame war on you-tube and some people just don't get the whole "athiesm is ...Meandering {207}
You are officially back! I had almost given up checking back here and I'm so glad I didn't. ...Jennifer McKenzie
I absolutely love this. Timely and well reasoned. Camera Guy, get away from that fudge!!!!The Sasquatch
koolman2: The definitions you gave us were as follows. Religion: a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose ...koolman2
First let me say thank you for your kind and very informative response to my comment; it's much more than ...The Brothers Winn
koolman2, Thanks for your nice words about the show. As to Atheism is not a religion: I predict this will ...koolman2
First: loved the show, it was very informative. Second: athiesm is NOT a religion. Dictionary.com defines "religion" as, "1. a ...FatAnorexic
28th! Yes I know it's not as good as third place, but It still says I'm in dernit! Very interesting ...kulika
LIFE HAS MEANING AGAIN AT LAST!!!Ingrid [22]
Wow, I love how you guys keep teaching me stuff about the English language, I keep learning things with ...haleymathiot
Thank you for this video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! people need to know the truth. would you believe me if i knew the answer ...steph {207}
YES! Welcome back and what a great show to start out with! I'm adding this one to my favorites list! ...Nospinplease
OMGGGG!!! =D welcome back! i missed you guys. and i actually searched for the phrase myself a while back, out ...grimhold
First, glad to see you two back Second, loved the show Third, most of the founding fathers felt they were making a ...Teagan [22]
... I <3 you guys.GameDroid98
HOORAY!!! The Brothers Winn are back! Excellent show you guys, but it's kind of cutting it close on your "new ...the pants eater [22]
I am no doubt excited to see you guys back in action, but I must say, I don't like the ...hydrohead
Best WYOTK Ever!nick
First I got the quiz right, and second I disagree with your statement that the only reason churches don't endorse ...sudhir
I do not know why History Channel cannot understand this simple fact that they are so BORING. There only chance ...chancemuse
Awesome show, very interesting!Kel [22]
Glad to see you back! Space out those new episodes, ok? I don't want them to run out too quickly.Samuel
You're back! this is pretty interesting. Did you get a new mike or something? cause it sounds different.montymontgomeri
this is extremely interesting.gettoman
Awesome post! So appropriate for the crap going on in today's political nightmare! I learnt a lot in that one! ...overlord
yay your back..awesome stuff guys love it equals Dcburningham
Where am I supposed to turn in my essay?Dandapani [22]
Welcome back! Good vid. Right down the middle with the facts. Nice.BlueX273
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHHOOO!!!!! You guy are finnally back!!!!! WOOOHOO!!!!!sudhir
At Last Brothers Winn you are again active. i am so glad to find your new video again. I started ...Pheonix_blu{207}
Hey!! This isn't Tuesday! Aww forget it, I'm just glad you guys are back for a few weeks. Great video ...The Informant
Whoo!! New episode's always bring Equals D's to my face! Keep them up, guys! <3CrazyDave
w00t, does it get better than He-Man?? and Thomas Jefferson?? and The Brothers Winn??? ...pure awesomeness mixed with zealousness, shaken not ...Curtis [22]
Argh, second. Oh, I'm so mad. I should've won. You cheated. Wanna play again? Anyway, welcome back. ...The Brothers Winn
First! (Sorry, but I've wanted to do that forever.) Hope you all enjoy the show. We will have another for ...