“I think very few people realize how much the separation of church and state has to do with the fact that Americans are not only more religious than a lot of other people in the world but that conversions are much more common here.” PeopleThinkingWorldStatesFactsRealizingChurchReligiousCommonSeparationConversionChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And State Author:Susan Jacoby
“Once the Roman Catholic Church in the West became the church most closely connected with the state, the Roman Catholic Church did not recognize the validity of any religion other than its own.” StatesChurchCatholicWestConnectedCatholic ChurchValidityRoman CatholicRoman Catholic Church Author:Susan Jacoby
“For one thing, the Catholic Church in particular has this one thing - confession - in which you could go, confess to a priest and obtain absolution of your sins. And there was a routine and a ritual and I think - I think that it did help.” ThinkingHelpingChurchSinOne ThingParticularCatholicPriestsRitualRoutineConfessionCatholic ChurchAbsolution Author:Susan Jacoby
“God Bless America started to become an almost ritualistic incantation at the end of political speeches really with Ronald Reagan. It appears occasionally before, but it was not that common. And of course since it was a song that wasn't written by Irving Berlin until the 20th century (laughter), none of the 19th century presidents said God Bless America at the end of speeches, either. I think that the symbolism which suggests that everybody is religious and that even presidents who believe in church and state feel obliged to do this.” ThinkingFeelsBelieveSaidEndsStatesAmericaPoliticalSongCoursesPresidentChurchReligiousCommonWrittenCenturySpeechLaughterBless20th CenturyObligedChurch And StateBerlin19th CenturySymbolismGod BlessGod Bless AmericaPolitical Speeches Author:Susan Jacoby
“It is easy to forget, since the Catholic Church is now the only large American religious denomination whose ecclesiastical hierarchy continues to oppose birth control, that only a century ago the leaders of nearly all churches were united in their resistance to any public discussion of the subject.” ReligionEasyChurchReligiousForgetUnitedLeaderSubjectsCenturyBirthCatholicResistanceDiscussionHierarchyCatholic ChurchBirth ControlDenominations Book:Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism Source: Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism
“There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation and discrimination on a reluctant nation's social agenda. Would black churches have been able to take the lead in the struggle had they been dependent on funds doled out for 'faith-based initiatives' . . . ?” Has BeensStatesGovernmentAbleNationsSocialBlackChurchPowerfulStruggleArgumentIndependentDiscriminationAfrican AmericanDependentAgendasFundInitiativeSegregationReluctantMixingLead InFaith BasedReligion And GovernmentBlack ChurchRacial Segregation Author:Susan Jacoby
