So where is the separation of religion and government in the aftermath of the World Trade Center/Pentagon attacks? About where it should be.

Churches, synagogues and mosques throughout America have freely held religious services unique to the natures of their own faiths. Interfaith services in the National Cathedral and Yankee Stadium have allowed government leaders and members of diverse faiths to voluntarily come together to mourn and to petition God, without government mandating attendance or endorsing any religion or nonreligion.

Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson remain clumsy embarrassments to Christianity rather than serious threats to the separation of religion and government.

Thus far, neither of two polar opposites has been evident during the nation's mourning. The movement to eliminate any government acknowledgment of religion whatsoever has been silent. Following a series of court losses and faced with a traumatized public determined to acknowledge God, if only in mourning, this movement is teetering on weakened legs.

The movement for government to endorse an all-encompassing pantheism with all religions considered mere subsets thereof has likewise been relatively quiet. However, if universal pantheism has been quiet, it is because the three monotheistic religions most manifest in the current crisis, Islam, Christianity and Judaism, are the most resistant to pantheism's umbrella. Although pantheists have infiltrated all three religions and government, their forums are usually school programs, public lands issues and other carefully controled affairs. Caught in a national emergency, the movement has simply lacked time to manipulate government's involvement in public expressions of grief.

As the American public re-embraces religion and as government increasingly recognizes the dignity of religion in American life, religious movements will increasingly attempt to manipulate government to endorse and impose their beliefs. The Jefferson 21st Century Institute remains on alert.

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