Equality without exception
Church-state separation ensures that all people are treated the same — full civil rights regardless of their religious beliefs or the religious beliefs of others.
Our Issues
The separation of church and state ensures that everyone has equal access to hospitals and medical care, public schools and government services regardless of their religious beliefs or the beliefs of others. It’s about all of us being equal.
Americans United works every day to protect this constitutional promise and to hold back the rising tide of White Christian Nationalism and its existential threat to our democracy.
Read Our Latest Reports
Read the 2025 Impact Report
In 2025, your commitment to protecting the separation of church and state empowered Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (AU) to advance our mission in meaningful, lasting ways. Because of you, we secured crucial legal victories, strengthened public‑policy safeguards, energized new generations of advocates, and brought the importance of religious freedom into the public conversation with clarity and purpose. Together, we demonstrated what it looks like when a community of supporters stands up for a principle that protects everyone: the right to believe as you choose, or not believe, so long as you don’t harm others.
We're the Guardrails: How AU Is Holding the Government Accountable
Church-state separation is under threat, and AU is showing up in the courtroom. Read our latest foundations update for a look at seven active lawsuits, a landmark Supreme Court case in the making, and the long-term investment we're making in the future of religious freedom.
The Keep Public Funds in Public Schools Act protects the foundations of our democracy
AU's David Carter explains how the Keep Public Funds in...
Texas’s new private school voucher program marginalizes Muslim families
AU Youth Organizing Fellow Ishan Kanaskar examines the harms of...
Tips for reporting on white Christian Nationalism
AU Youth Organizing Fellow and journalist Maya Henry offers tips...
Why church-state separation still matters today
AU Youth Organizing Fellow Rachel Ledoux discusses why church-state separation...
How We Protect Religious Equality and Freedom
Religious freedom in America must be defended in the courts, legislatures, and the public square. Americans United brings together people of all religions and none to protect the separation of church and state.
We bring together Americans of all religions and none to speak out for the freedom to live as ourselves and believe as we choose.
We fight for laws that prevent religion from being used to harm others.
We litigate against religious extremists and their lawmaker allies who are attacking religious freedom in America.
