However, the constitution didn't quite define or describe separation of church and state. It was apparently intended in the first amendment to prevent U.S. governments from sanctioning a particular church or religion over others, as has happened in most nations of the world in most of history. The current political and judicial atmosphere, rather than honoring the non-establishment clause, often seems to tend toward hostility rather than neutrality. There surely was no original intent to ban references to God in public places or prevent public officials from expressing their own faith. What seems to be profound hostility toward very mundane religious expression today might be ludicrous, if it did not reflect such a disturbing cultural turn toward destructive self-centered philosophies.