BATON ROUGE — Gov. Jeff Landry sparked debate over religion in government after a social media post saying the separation between church and state is a myth.

Gov. Landry said that "the separation of church and state is a myth" in a social media post responding to comments made on an episode of Joe Rogan's podcast criticizing his push to put the Ten Commandments in public classrooms.

Pastor Fred Jeff Smith of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church said he disagrees with the governor's comment and believes it conflicts with the First Amendment.

"There is no myth of church and state, it is the First Amendment to the Constitution that the government shall make no law that abridges the practice of religion nor underwrites a particular practice of religion," Smith said.

Smith said individuals should be free to express their religious freedom and views.

"I am free to practice my faith in God in the way of my choosing, in the way of my upbringing, and in the way of my changing and you are free to do the same and be dismissive of it," Smith said. 

On the other hand, Livingston Parish minister, Larry Davis said, the country was founded on Christianity.

"We live in a time where people constantly try to attack the foundation of which this country was built. There's no hidden history that denies the truth of why this country was built," said Davis.

WBRZ's political analyst James Hartman said the governor's statement is technically correct because the phrase separation of church and state is does not appear the Constitution or founding documents. However, he said there is an establishment clause that we cannot establish a state religion nor prohibit a religion from operating within national borders.

"This is a political showmanship. They are throwing red meat to their base, and it becomes difficult for anyone to publicly say you are wrong governor because nobody wants to say they do not like the 10 Commandments because we do," said Hartman.

The Louisiana law was ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court in June.