Be not afraid, Sarah Palin. Separation of Church and State is good for you.

"But [atheists] frequently just intimidate and harass and annoy people into caving to their atrocious, ridiculous, nonsensical demands by spreading a false understanding of what the separation of church and state means." - Sarah Palin (emphasis mine)

Sarah Palin and many of her followers are afraid that freedom of religion (Christianity in particular) is being threatened.  They fear that atheists are trying to take it away.  They fear that Muslims will impose Sharia and ban Christianity.

I can sum up my understanding of freedom of religion in one sentence:

The only guarantee of freedom of religion is the separation of church and state.

I will repeat that with emphasis:

The only guarantee of freedom of religion is the separation of church and state.

Look around the world and ask yourself a question.  In many countries of the world, religions are taking up arms against each other.  In Britain and Northern Ireland, Catholics fought Protestants.  In Iraq, Sunni Muslims fight Shia Muslims.  During the Lebanese Civil War, Christian militias fought Druze and Muslim militias.  In India, Sikhs and Muslims kill each other.

It is tempting to blame all the killing on religious differences.  But wait.  Here in the United States, there are the same innumerable sects of Christians, Jews, and Muslims that are found all over the world.  All of these sects have the same disagreements as they have anywhere else in the world.  Yet we agree to disagree, live and let live.  Our various religions don't take up arms against each other.

Why should this be so?  Hold that thought.

American children are brought up learning about the first American colonists, some of whom came to America to escape religious persecution.  Many of these colonists were what we would call dissenters; that is, they were members of minority religions who were not free to worship in the manner they felt was right.  In Britain, anyone who didn't belong to the Church of England risked punishment.  In other European countries, it did not pay to profess a faith other than Roman Catholicism.  The thing that these countries had in common was that they had an official state religion.  The problem was not simply religious differences.  The problem was that one religion wielded all the power and was jealous of that power.

The American Founding Fathers knew the history of England and Europe, and they knew what the problem was.  The answer to why the various religions are not at war with each other in the United States is that the United States government, by design, is prohibited from establishing an official state religion.

People who don't understand that their religious freedom is directly attributable to the lack of an official religion worry when prayer is taken out of public schools and when government buildings are not allowed to display religious decorations at Christmas.  They see these prohibitions as attacks on religious liberty.  In fact, the prohibitions they complain about are curbs on government power to force citizens to worship a particular god in a particular way.

You will notice, by the way, that the prohibition of prayer in public schools does not lead to the prohibition of prayer in church, in the home, or in any religious gatherings.  In the same way, the prohibition of religious displays in government buildings is not accompanied by prohibitions of those displays in front of your church or in front of your home.  The individual and the religious organization are perfectly free to display their religious symbols as they choose, without fear that the police will arrest them or make them take their decorations down.  Only the government is prohibited from religious display.

The fact that all religions in the United States are permitted to worship week after week, unmolested by the government is the direct result of the separation of church and state.  All religions are equal under the law.

A thought experiment:  What would happen if the United States declared itself a Christian nation?  The first question that would have to be asked is, what kind of Christians are we?  According to Wikipedia, there are about 41,000 different Christian denominations around the world.  We know from the statements of certain religious leaders that certain denominations do not believe that certain other denominations are really Christians.  How do we decide who is in and who is out?  Is a Mormon a Christian?  A Christian Scientist?  A Catholic?  A Jehovah's Witness?  A Seventh Day Adventist?  Are all Baptists created equal?

You see the problem.  As soon as there's an official religion, all other religions are in danger, including certain Christian denominations, maybe your own.  In their insecurity, they all begin to jockey for position.  Could we expect shootouts between Southern Baptists and American Baptists?  Might Delaware secede and become a Methodist Republic?  It all sounds ludicrous to Americans because we have managed for so long to avoid killing each other over religion.  But it could be a serious situation.  Religion, in and of itself, does not cause the persecution of other religions.  It's Religion plus political power that is the danger.

Sarah Palin, you can thank the separation of church and state for your freedom to worship where and how you choose.