In America, the separation of Church and State was made law by the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution.
This is why they don't have prayer in State schools and why they don't
have prayer in Congress or the Senate. In Australia, we also have an
Establishment clause in our Constitution that separates Church and
State:
116.
The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any
religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for
prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test
shall be required as a qualification for any office or public
trust under the Commonwealth.
The problem is that in Australia the law hasn't been enforced. So we
have not merely prayer, but enforced scripture periods in State schools,
and compulsory Christian prayer in Parliament. As well as highly
illegal activities like donations of hundreds of millions of dollars
from the Federal government to the Catholic Church, but to no other
non-profit organisation.
It would be interesting to see the Secular Party challenge breaches of this part of the Australian Consititution in court.
Originally posted by Ian Woolf
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