Re: seperation of church & state?

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That 'wall' is observed only when convenient.
In effect, we do have a state mandated religion; albeit not a
single one. From the federal gov't down to a town council, the
laws say that any religion has to conform to the tenets of
judeo-christion dogma.
When Joseph Smith founded a new religion back in the early
1800s, it didn't take very long for it to be outlawed by every
gov't entity, a federal judge in oklahoma territory even placed
a bounty on the head of any mormon. Several yrs later, when the
US Army found the mormon settlements in Utah, the church elders
were forced to change the church doctrine under the guns of the
army.
And why was all this done? Because Joseph Smith founded a
religion that had some major differences from judeo-christian
traditions; plus he declared that he had had a direct
revelation from Jesus. This of course caused a major furor
among the established churches; which further enraged them and
encouraged laws against the new religion.
So, although we do not have a specific state mandated religion,
we do have prohibitions against religions that don't agree with
the majority religions.

On 7/08/04, US Supremes quoting Jefferson wrote:
> In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment
> of religion by law was intended to erect 'a wall of
> separation between Church and State."
>
> Everson v. Board of Education 330 US 1