Excerpt from Justice O'Connor's
concurring opinion in McCreary County v. ACLU (2005):
At a time when we see around the world the violent consequences
of the assumption of religious authority by government,
Americans may count themselves fortunate: Our regard for
constitutional boundaries has protected us from similar
travails, while allowing private religious exercise to flourish.
The well-known statement that “[w]e are a religious people,” has
proved true. Americans attend their places of worship more often
than do citizens of other developed nations and describe
religion as playing an especially important role in their lives.
Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and
state must therefore answer a difficult question: Why would we
trade a system that has served us so well for one that has
served others so poorly?