Separation of church and state refers to the limits our Constitution places on the power of the government (both federal and state) to legislate about religion.
Our belief (one shared by the vast majority of legal and historical scholars who have studied the issue) is that the Constitution places religion almost wholly outside the reach of government. In particular, we believe that the Constitution delegates no power to government over religious affairs, and that the First Amendment explicitly prohibits the government from establishing or controlling religion. The effect of this arrangement is to leave Americans free to worship, believe, and support religion as they see fit. Additionally, we believe that separation deprives government of its ability to coerce adherence to religion, or to compel the support of religion against an individual's will.
People that believe as we do are called separationists. A more detailed statement of our position can be found in the Supreme Court's majority opinion in Everson v. Board of Education (1947; Justice Black writing for the court). >