The framers of our constitution saw the need to separate church and state. In one stroke, they prevented the excessive and abusive exercises of power that characterized other nations, and they prevented religions from exerting a stranglehold on government action. However, they could not have foreseen the rise of the industrial civilization that is now exercising a new kind of power, frequently in ways that ultimately harmful. (On television last night, there were drugs to make you go to sleep, drugs to fix your upset stomach, drugs to solve you "social anxiety" problems, and drugs for a variety of other conditions. There were also ads for cereals, soft drinks, beer, and dozens of other fun but so essentially-unhealthy substances that they should be treated like cigarettes -- you can sell them, but you can't advertise them. When you add up all the harmful things that are being sold over the airwaves, it's pretty sickening, really.)

So how, HOW, does one achieve a separation of business and state? What does that mean? What does it translate to in terms of things that the government can and cannot do? The question is important, because I'm not sure there is any way for culture to begin approaching a garden of eden, unless we answer it.

Eric -