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Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I think it should be a punishable crime if an American government employee advocates their religious beliefs into their policies CMV

First off I'd like to say that I am not an atheist, anti-theist, agnostic, etc. I am actually very religious.
However I am a firm believer of the Establishment Clause (Separation of Church and State.) 

The 1st amendment reads as follows:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"

In  Everson vs Board of Education, Justice Hugo Black wrote:
"The "establishment of religion" clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion to another ... in the words of Jefferson, the [First Amendment] clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect 'a wall of separation between church and State' ... That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach."

Despite this most of the Republican Party are loudly violating the 1st amendment by pushing their shared Biblical interpretation. RightWingWatch.org extensively documents their unconstitutional actions. Michelle Bachmann is possibly the worst of them.

Anyway onward to my view. Due to this, I think that it should be a punishable crime for a government official to push their religious beliefs in policies. For example, if a Senator drafts a bill to make gay marriage illegal because his interpretation of the Bible says so, they should be punished. If a member of the Texas School Board wants to put Creationism into textbooks because he's a Young Earth Creationist, they should be punished (watch the documentary "The Revisionaries" on Netflix, it's about that.)

Of course what kind of punishment and how far should it go? 
If a an official drafts a bill based on their religious views, there needs to be enough evidence to convict them. The problem with this is that one could hide their views, but from what I've seen of the Religious Right they're not really hiding their views at all (looking at you Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Michelle Bachmann.) 
Anyway if there is enough evidence to convict them, the punishment should be impeachment and a life-long ban from working in the government ever again. Now that's for drafting a bill.
Let's say the person was able to make their view into law. Whether it's on a local or nationwide level, or in textbooks. Then not only should they receive the above punishment, but at least a minimum of 1 year in prison and the said law that they passed would be removed immediately.

Now this does not apply to an official who is voicing their religious views, only to one who makes decisions based on them.


EDIT: While people are split on it today Thomas Jefferson, who is somewhat the father of the 1st amendment, was quite in support of Separation of Church and State.
gpt
I think you are confused by what separation of church and state means. It prevents laws that explicitly have a religious basis. A law referencing a religion or the Bible would be unconstitutional.

However, you can form a law based on your own moral beliefs or reasonings, even if your beliefs are grounded in religion. This is because all laws are formed by the consensus of what society believes is right and wrong - it doesn't matter *why* society believes it, only that it does.

Now, putting Creationism into a law may well be a violation of the separation of church and state because it is unique to a particular religion and explicitly codified into law. However, for something like gay marriage you cannot claim violation of the separation principle because it is simply people expressing a moral opinion. Why they hold that opinion is ultimately irrelevant.