<P> In contrast to separationism , the Supreme Court of the United States in Zorach v. Clauson upheld accommodationism , holding that the nation 's `` institutions presuppose a Supreme Being '' and that government recognition of God does not constitute the establishment of a state church as the Constitution 's authors intended to prohibit . As such , the Court has not always interpreted the constitutional principle as absolute , and the proper extent of separation between government and religion in the U.S. remains an ongoing subject of impassioned debate . </P>
word that means separation of church and state
separationism