Church and state Quotes · Page 3

Separation of church and state cannot mean an absolute separation between moral principles and political power.

— Edward Kennedy

[N]o religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

— James Madison

When Pat Robertson says there is no constitutional doctrine of separation of church and state, I say he is wrong.

— Arlen Specter

I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state are absolute.

— Rick Santorum

History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government.

— Thomas Jefferson

I am not a spokesperson for the church and the church is not a spokesperson for the United States of America.

— John F. Kerry

Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can exist apart from religious principle.

— George Washington

Some people have a fear of rejecting all the security that comes with family, church and state. They become fundamentalists.

— Harold Ramis

The public schools shall be free from sectarian influences and, above all, free from any attitude of hostility to the adherents of…

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: why would we trade a system…

— Sandra Day O'Connor

Thank God, under our Constitution there was no connection between Church and State, and that in my action as President of the…

— James K. Polk

It is not a question of religion, or of creed, or of party; it is a question of declaring and maintaining the…

— Elihu Root

I never liked the Hierarchy of the Church-an equality in the teacher of Religion, and a dependence on the people, are republican…

— Rufus King

I cannot conceive otherwise than that He, the Infinite Father, expects or requires no worship or praise from us, but that He…

— Benjamin Franklin

I agree with the idea that there is a separation of church and state. That teachers should not be leading prayer -…

— Ken Buck

Now who can hear Christ declare, that his kingdom is, not of this world, and yet believe that this blending of church…

— Isaac Backus

“Jesus from the moment he first appears in Galilee is a sign of contradiction, fomenting revolution through telling the truth about the…

— Megan McKenna

There are some who invoke separation of church and state - to try to get the government out of the business of…

— Dinesh D'Souza

For centuries it was never discovered that education was a function of the State, and the State never attempted to educate. But…

— Lord Acton

“We fought for equality for all, for women too. For freethinking, fighting the lies of church and state, for what Nat called…

— M.J. Carter

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none…

— Thomas Jefferson

Everyone in the United States is so intense about maintaining a separation between Church and State when the real concern should be…

— Neale Donald Walsch

Near the end of the 1700s, philosophers began to declare that humans were rational individuals. People were flattered by being recognized as…

— Alex Pentland

I believe that prayer in public schools should be voluntary. It is difficult for me to see how religious exercises can be…

— Gerald R. Ford

“[ Said during a debate when his opponent asserted that atheism and belief in evolution lead to Nazism :] Atheism by itself…

— Christopher Hitchens

“When we seek to understand liberty, equality, progress, constitutional governance, separation of church and state, and the meaning of the American Revolution,…

— R.B. Bernstein

“New Rule: You don't have to teach both sides of a debate if one side is a load of crap. President Bush…

— Bill Maher

“The irony that always amazes me when I see people up in arms about our war against Islamo-fascism is how they don’t…

— Brigitte Gabriel

“Church and State, will, of course, go on for ever, in spite of the fact that it is impossible for them to…

— Anton Chekhov

“Men never fail to dwell on maternity as a disqualification for the possession of many civil and political rights. Suggest the idea…

— Elizabeth Cady Stanton

“Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downward through the mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition,…

— Henry David Thoreau

“I cannot understand why we idle discussing religion. If we are honest—and scientists have to be—we must admit that religion is a…

— Paul A.M. Dirac

Creeds have been the bane of the Christian church ... made of Christendom a slaughter-house.

— Thomas Jefferson

Lord, there's danger in this land, you get witch hunts and wars when church and state hold hands.

— Joni Mitchell

I do not speak for my church on public matters; and the church does not speak for me.

— John F. Kennedy

“God is wrath and God is mercy. The State is the instrument of his wrath, the Church of his mercy”

— Martin Luther

I believe in the separation of church and state and would not use my authority to violate this principle in any way.

— Jimmy Carter

The union of church and state put the church under a political control... The church was thoroughly subordinated to the state.

— H. J Eckenrode

Separation of church and state is the big club pulled out to beat back the Christians .

— David Barton

No union exists between church and state, and perfect freedom of opinion is guaranteed to all sects and creeds.

— James K. Polk