Far from suppressing faith, separation of church and state, by decoupling the two institutions, gave all Americans the right to decide for themselves what, if anything, they would believe about God (or Gods), how they would worship, where they would worship and when they would worship.

America has a foundational document – the Constitution and its Bill of Rights. The story of how our nation got that document (which, by the way, is secular) and the story of how we went from a small band of theocratic settlers in Massachusetts to a country that celebrates religious freedom for all is a fascinating one.

Prayer can’t be forced, and neither can love of country. You either genuinely feel these things or you don’t. They can’t be turned on and off like a light switch at someone else’s command.