separation of church and state

The separation of church and state is a concept and philosophy in modern thought and practice, whereby the structures of state or national government are proposed as needing to be separate from those of religious institutions. In a secular state such as Canada, the rule of law and the political authorities are separate from and cannot be overruled by religious law or religious authorities.

Related issues include:fundamentalism, religious right, religious education.

Position: government should not fund religious based social programs.

Governments should not fund social programs, including schools managed by religious groups.
The separation of church and state should be extended to all program spending. The government should only be funding secular programs.

Position: Liberal democracy creates spiritual poverty.

When the institutions of government, in a misguided attempt at being multicultural, are so hostile to religion as to banning prayer and religious clothing from schools and public life, they undermine the moral foundations of their own society.