Why do atheist always use the battle cry separation of church and state?

The U.S. didn't have compulsory laws until the 1900s, which meant children didn't have to attend school. High schools had also yet to be established until the 1900s. Furthermore, public schools weren't as prevalent (or even existent) until the early to mid 1800s.

Why weren't atheists "crying out"? How do you know they didn't? The country had just fought for its independence and then the Civil War while trying to establish its educational system.

For all its faults, we're lucky to have our current system.

I see you don't really understand how such things work in the US. It goes like this - I am one of the founding members and the community outreach coordinator and counselor for a religious group's work with the poor and the homeless in our city. We don't receive government funding (we are eligible but refuse to apply for those grants for a variety of reasons), but we are a non-profit.

If you wanted to donate to us, you would be allowed to take that as a tax deduction. However, that's because our religious branch and our charitable branch are entirely separate entities. So while we may indeed be run by a church and the members of that church, we don't link our faith to the work in our community.

The church and the charity are two separate entities with two sets of separate books, run by the same people. The many Catholic hospitals (the Mercy system, etc) are the same way. They may ultimately have been founded by Catholics, but it's not a strictly Catholic system.

There is no compulsion to become Catholic to use it and they don't use the hospital system to proselytize. Just like we don't use our charitable branch to proselytize or compell others to become Germanic/Nordic Heathens. They are separate entities with separate goals.

One is for our own spiritual and cultural edification (not anyone else's - we don't proselytize at all or want converts for the most part) and the other is to serve the community in which we live.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.