Recently the state of Iowa allowed the Church of Satan to place a statue in the state capitol building. Officials allowed this to be done during the Christmas season believing that their constitution and the United States Constitution required the separation of church and state, thus not allowing some other religion to put their symbol in the state capital was tantamount to endorsing Christianity and thus becoming a state sponsored religion. This is incorrect.
The phrase, separation of church and state, does not appear anywhere in the founding documents of this nation. Thomas Jefferson used the phrase in a letter but did not give it the meaning that it is now given. The First Amendment of the Constitution says Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion. The intent was to make sure that people could practice the religion they desired since the King of England had banned certain religions and persecuted those practitioners.
Our Founding Fathers established this country's laws based upon a Judeo-Christian ethic. God is mentioned numerous times in our founding documents. It was widely recognized that this ethic would be the guiding principle of not only our legal system but our culture. The Ten Commandments were often displayed in government buildings and Christian prayers are used to open official proceedings because of the importance of the Judeo-Christian values, morals, and principles.
Having a common set of morals and principles upon which our laws would be founded would create consistency in the application of those laws. More importantly, having a culture based upon those same morals and principles was needed to guarantee the long-term success of the country. Having a citizenry that not only shared these morals and principles but believed in them meant that they would not only live by common morals and principles, but they would defend those values. Anyone who wished to live here was welcome to practice their religion but had to understand that our foundational morals and principles would govern their behavior.
Giving equal status to other religions or belief systems would weaken the country's foundation, separating us to a point that would fundamentally change our character and our legal and political system. That would threaten our ability to govern equally and destroy the common bonds that hold a nation state together. Abiding by these principles does not equate to a state sponsored religion. Nor does it mean all religions have to be given equal status in governing or culturally, other than equal protection under the law.
Finally, freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion. Our religious symbols, such as the three crosses in Las Cruces or the Ten Commandments that still hang in some government buildings does nothing to force anyone to join a Christian Church. An American can disagree with the principles upon which our country was founded or that guide the various sects of Christianity without fear of prosecution for doing so. But it does not mean that they cannot live by our shared morals and values.