Separation of church and state is a restriction on the state from being religious, not the church from being political.
The bill of rights is a list of restrictions on the state by very definition.
The bill of rights is a list of restrictions on the state by very definition.
Tax-exempt charities are prohibited from using tax-exempt funds to engage in certain kinds of political speech. Those that do electioneer or conduct lobbying, for example, have separate non-tax-exempt branches that handle it, with their own funds and strict financial firewalls separating them from the rest of the organization.
Churches, on the other hand, get to flout those rules all the time. And I do mean churches; other religions don't tend to enjoy quite the same latitude.
And that selective enforcement by the government is a separation of church and state issue.
Some skirt that line very closely.
The state should reflect the ethics of the people. Religious morality is a type of speech.
This is immaterial but just in case anyone assumes anything: I'm not personally religious.