I started responding to Deborama's comment on my previous post and realized that the response probably deserved to be a post in its own right so...

I've lived in the U.S. for over 21 years. I am from India, whose Constitution -- arguably modelled after the American -- also guarantees freedom of religion but the principle of "separation of church and state" is not explicitly stated or implied as far as I know. I understand that this "separation" is not explicitly specified in the U.S. Constitution either but it does say, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." I guess there might be those who interpret this to mean that there are no constitutional problems with the Executive promoting/discounting particular religious beliefs; I am not one of them.

What bummed me out was not only the apparent indifference to this principle of a big chunk of Americans at a time when we have a President whose pronouncements and initiatives treat it as an aberration. Add the 15% who said that church and state should not be separate to the 32% who said that it wasn't an issue and I see cause for alarm. I sometimes wonder if, for all their earnest extolment of "Freedom," Americans truly appreciate what it is like to live without it. My complaint here is not that there is no liberty in the U.S. but that it is taken for granted.

A couple of my past posts should give you an idea of where I'm coming from in terms of faith and religiosity.

--aslam

6:40:30 PM