Roy S. Moore

The doctrine of the separation of church and state has been misinterpreted in a way that limits religious freedom, contends Roy S. Moore in the following viewpoint. Because church-state separation is often taken to mean that government cannot support religion in any way, Christians and Jews are denied their right to express their beliefs while participating in public forums or state-funded activities. However, Moore explains, the ideal of church-state separation was actually intended to keep the government from prescribing what one’s faith should be—not to preclude people from publicly acknowledging God. The government’s banning of religious activity and prayer in public schools and other public venues has contributed to America’s moral decline, the author concludes. Moore is a circuit judge for the sixteenth judicial...