The Myth of the Separation of Church and State

Anytime religion is mentioned within the confines of government today people cry, "Separation of Church and State". Many people think this statement appears in the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution and therefore must be strictly enforced. However, the words: "separation", "church", and "state" do not even appear in the first amendment. The first amendment reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." The statement about a wall of separation between church and state was made in a letter on January 1, 1802, by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut. The congregation heard a widespread rumor that the Congregationalists, another denomination, were to become the national religion. This was very alarming to people who knew about religious persecution in England by the state established church. Jefferson made it clear in his letter to the Danbury Congregation that the separation was to be that government would not establish a national religion or dictate to men how to worship God. Jefferson's letter from which the phrase "separation of church and state" was taken affirmed first amendment rights. Jefferson wrote:

I contemplate with solemn reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State. (1) The reason Jefferson choose the expression "separation of church and state" was because ....

This topic has been discussed in these forums for years, in far more depth than this article presents it. Indeed, exploring the root site, one finds links that support what is called "theonomy". The Chalcedon Foundation (aka the "Reconstructionists", Rushdoony's group.) are featured. Even the most cursory readings of their works makes it clear that they do not believe in religious liberty.

Therefore, their view of what is and is not included in the First Amendment has to be considered questionable at best.

-Eric

How useful! This is a fresh and original topic. I'm sure we'll see plenty of new insights, and very few copied block quotations from other threads.

Here, I'll help out by summarizing the first hundred or so posts.

- We need to take back this country from the atheists!
- The First Amendment doesn't mean freedom FROM religion!
- I still don't understand by the First Amendment would apply to a state. Nobody ever seems to have noticed the word "Congress" in there before!
- But many of the Founding Fathers were Deists!
- Yeah, but the rest were avowedly Christian.
- The First Amendment allows people to be whichever Christian denomination they want. That sounds like religious freedom to me.
- Many states had officially established denominations at the time when the Constitution was written!
- We need to take back this country from the atheists!
- Roy Moore is a living god, and on Thursdays I sacrifice individual condiment packets to His glory.
- We need to take back this country from the Muslims!
- I don't understand why anybody would object to establishing Christianity as the state religion.
- All our laws are just based on the Ten Commandments anyway.
- Except for the ones which aren't.
- Why would anybody mind state-sponsored religious displays? If you don't like them, don't look.
- Assuming these are Christian ones, of course.

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