Basis of our laws? Fine, I'll give 'ya that. But when you keep mentioning the G Word, it completely destroys any hope of a useful argument for you. It is so fucking embarassing that after thousands of years of evolution, we're still such frightened little children. Then again, it is Alabama, the Land of Enlightenment.

Also, dumbfuck, the concept of separation of church and state doesn't just give us the freedom to worship god, it also gives us the freedom to not worship god. Or to worship lots of gods. This is clearly a government with a huge Christian bias, but if nothing else, us heathens don't need it rubbed in our face.

For me, the separation of church and state goes beyond just the words that are in the first amendment, mainly because, well, the words "separation of church and state" aren't in the Constitution as far as I know. The phrase "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" is in there, but fuck if I know what exactly that was supposed to mean 200 some odd years ago. Either way, the concept of separating church and state is a de facto standard that we live with, and is what helps give us what the first amendment promises us, the ability to freely exercise our beliefs. For free exercise to be possible, the government cannot be advocating one religion over another. Of course, that's not always the case, but it'd be nice if we could keep the Team Jesus cheerleading to a minimum.

Also, while doing some research on separation of church and state, I came across this, which amused me.