In a 1962 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, Mr. Justice Black delivered the opinion of the Court and observed:

“When the power, prestige and financial support of government is placed behind a particular religious belief, the indirect coercive pressure upon religious minorities to conform to the prevailing officially approved religion is plain.”  “…a union of government and religion tends to destroy government and degrade religion.  The history of governmentally-established religion…(has shown)…that whenever government had allied itself with one particular form of religion, the inevitable result has been that it had incurred the hatred, disrespect and even contempt of those who held contrary beliefs.  That same history showed that many people had lost their respect for any religion that had relied upon the support of government to spread its faith.”