It was an interesting day to be reminded about the American principle of separation of church and state, as enshrined by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

On a day when Robert Bentley, Alabama’s new governor, had to apologize for his controversial comments about non-Christians, Ameek Singh, writing on a separate topic in The State News (the student newspaper out of Michigan State University), discusses the first amendment:

…the history of faith in America continues this tradition. Americans have understood faith belongs within the context of religious scriptures, the communities that worship them and spirituality itself. Citizens of every faith, not the government, have created the structures for worship, community service and faith-based initiatives.

Admittedly, with issues ranging from prayer in school to the Pledge of Allegiance, this balance hasn’t been perfect. But by any measure, a relative separation between religion and government has remained.

Bentley’s comments and subsequent apology are the proof of this imperfect balance.