George W. Bush Quotes

We believe in separation of church and state, that there should be no unwarranted influence on the church or religion by the state, and vice versa.

the separation of church and state grew out of a desire, not so much to protect government from religion, but to protect religion from government.

[The line] cannot be too strongly drawn between church and state.

The divorce between church and state should be absolute.

Religion mustn't interfere with the state - so one of the basic Democratic principles as we know it in America is the separation of church and state.

The separation of church and state is necessary partly because if religion is good then the state shouldn't interfere with the religious vision or with the religious prophet.

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

Government needs to stay out of the religion business altogether.

The church state-wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach.

Total separation of church and state was considered the best safeguard for the health of each. As [Andrew] Jackson explained, in refusing to name a fast day, he feared to 'disturb the security which religion now enjoys in this country, in its complete separation from the political concerns of the General Government.'

When church and state are separate, the effects are happy, and they do not at all interfere with each other: but where they have been confounded together, no tongue nor pen can fully describe the mischiefs that have ensued.

That's why I believe in a Constitution which separates church from state. I've seen what happens when they get in cahoots.

There should be absolutely no 'Separation of Church and State' in America.

As the magistrate has no power to impose by his laws the use of any rites and ceremonies in any church, so neither has he any power to forbid the use of such rites and ceremonies as are already received, approved, and practised by any church; because if he did so, he would destroy the church itself; the end of whose institution is only to worship God with freedom, after its own manner.

I think church and state should remain entirely separate at all costs, and that the decision of religious marriage should be of each faith to debate and decide free of political influence.

I think there ought to be a strict separation or wall built between our religious faith and our practice of political authority in office. I don't think the President of the United States should extoll Christianity if he happens to be a Christian at the expense of Judaism, Islam or other faiths.

But separation of church and state was never meant to separate God and government.

The separation of church and state was meant to protect church from state; a state that declares religion off limits in public life is a state that declares itself supreme over all religious values.

It is neither sacrilegious or antireligious to say that each separate government should stay out of the business of writing or sanctioning official prayers and leave that purely religious function to the people themselves and to those the people choose to look to for religious guidance.

The 1st Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach.

In this country there is no alliance between church and state, no established religion, no tolerated religion—for toleration results from establishment

I believe in a wall between church and state so high that no one can climb over it.

Is the appointment of Chaplains to the two Houses of Congress consistent with the Constitution, and with the pure principle of religious freedom? In strictness, the answer on both points must be in the negative.

An essential condition of religious liberty is that religion be unaided by the Commonwealth.

We do not want an official state church. If ninety-nine percent of the population were Catholics, I would still be opposed to it. I do not want civil power combined with religious power.