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House Speaker Mike Johnson Calls “Separation of Church and State” a “Misnomer”
The New American ^ | November 27, 2023 | Bob Adelmann

Posted on 11/27/2023 12:31:00 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), under fire for holding strong religious convictions and defending his faith in Jesus Christ, said in an interview last week at CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the understanding of the “separation of church and state” that presently exists in the culture is a “misnomer.”

Dictionaries define “misnomer” as something that is “wrongly or inaccurately applied or used” to describe a concept. Here, the concept is the proper role of government in a society that is based on religious freedom.

At the time it was written, Thomas Jefferson’s response to a letter from the Danbury Baptists was straightforward:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ʺmake no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,ʺ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.

For generations this made perfect sense. In a constitutional republic it is assumed that the sovereign citizens will have little need for or interest in governmental interference in their personal affairs, especially their religion. They will hold themselves to be personally responsible for their actions without the need for an overseer. And their actions spring from an understanding and acceptance of the Holy Scriptures. Calvin Coolidge, our 30th president, said:

The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teaching of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.


(Excerpt) Read more at thenewamerican.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bloggers
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1 posted on 11/27/2023 12:31:00 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Johnson is correct.


2 posted on 11/27/2023 12:33:41 PM PST by dadgum (Enough!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Lovin this guy!


3 posted on 11/27/2023 12:33:58 PM PST by albie
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

correct again he is ...


4 posted on 11/27/2023 12:37:27 PM PST by bankwalker (Repeal the 19th ...)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
the understanding of the “separation of church and state” that presently exists in the culture is a “misnomer.”

Indeed. It is. It's certainly NOT found in the Constitution. Nor is it found in the Declaration, nor the Federalist, nor even the Anti-Federalist.

5 posted on 11/27/2023 12:38:02 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Another lie always spread by idiot progressives. Ask them where “Right to Abortion” and “Separation of Church and State” are in the constitution.

And for the 2020 crowd aske where judges can change voting laws....


6 posted on 11/27/2023 12:38:48 PM PST by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eye)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

From what I remember, it was under Kennedy (JFK), they are Catholic, where this “misnomer” began to get spread.

It was their way of trying to be more acceptable to the broad public which is majority not Catholic, i.e. personal beliefs won’t play a role in policy and decision making.

There was a lot of criticism at the time because of their Catholic faith.


7 posted on 11/27/2023 12:42:59 PM PST by Red6
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To: dadgum

Separation of church and state means the government can’t run the religion or promote it. No Church of England BS here in the USA.

Leftists are retarded.


8 posted on 11/27/2023 12:43:58 PM PST by MTBobcat (The “rank-and-file” are as corrupted as their leadership.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The phrase “separation of church and state” does not exist in the Constitution of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson used this phrase in a letter which was borrowed by the Catholic Church hating 1920’s Ku Klux Klan affiliated US Supreme Court Justice named Hugo Black.

Justice Black inserted this phrase into the 1947 Everson decision opening pandora’s box for its inclusion in jurisprudence and its common use by the media and elites.

The Mainstream Media and Ruling Elites of this country who spout “separation of church and state” are drawing their inspiration from a Klansman a Hood and Sheet guy.


9 posted on 11/27/2023 12:46:58 PM PST by Nextrush (FREEDOM IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS-REMEMBER REV. NIEMOLLER)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Yes, he’s correct. Nowhere in the Constitution does the phrase “separation of church and state” appear. The first amendment prohibits the government from establishing an official church. That was, of course, a genuine issue in the 13 colonies at the time the amendment was drafted, as the Anglican church was the “officially established church” of the English (and Presbyterianism was officially established in Scotland, Catholicism officially established in France, Spain, etc., Lutheranism officially established in Scandinavia, Prussia, etc.). But over time, particularly in the 20th century, anti-religious activists on the left succeeded in convincing many that the establishment clause meant something else entirely, e.g., not just making a denomination “official” but, say, merely having a nativity scene on public property was somehow “establishing a religion.”


10 posted on 11/27/2023 12:47:33 PM PST by irishjuggler
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To: NorthMountain
It's certainly NOT found in the Constitution

Well, it would be strange if it WERE found in the Constitution, since Connecticut established Congregationalism, Pennsylvania established Presbyterianism, and Mary's Land - well, you can guess from the name.

Good for Johnson for speaking up.

11 posted on 11/27/2023 12:48:44 PM PST by Jim Noble (The future belongs to those who show up)
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To: dadgum

That’s right, the words “separation of church and state” are nowhere to be found in the constitution!


12 posted on 11/27/2023 12:48:57 PM PST by No name given (Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Thomas Jefferson was not at the Constitutional Convention, or even in the United States when the Bill of Rights was drawn up. As a deist, his views on religion were not exactly in line with most Americans of the time.

In 1800, a lot of people were afraid that electing Jefferson President would mean a war on religion as had happened in France.

There's a story that a woman in a small town in New England was terrified that the Jeffersonian Republicans would confiscate all the Bibles, so she took her Bible to the only Republican in her town and asked him to hide it for her. He tried to reassure her that she had nothing to worry about but couldn't convince her. Finally he pointed out that if they were going to confiscate all the Bibles, it would not be safe in his house either. "No," she replied, "they will never think of looking for a Bible in the house of a Republican."

13 posted on 11/27/2023 12:49:25 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: Red6

There were decisions on school prayer and Bible readings in the Kennedy era but it began with the anti-Catholic Everson decision of 1947 authored by KKK Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.

He used Thomas Jefferson to support his personal agenda to deny assistance to Roman Catholic schools in New Jersey.


14 posted on 11/27/2023 12:49:33 PM PST by Nextrush (FREEDOM IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS-REMEMBER REV. NIEMOLLER)
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To: MTBobcat
Separation of church and state means the government can’t run the religion or promote it

No.

It means the national government cannot establish a church, overriding the churches already established by a number of the States.

15 posted on 11/27/2023 12:50:13 PM PST by Jim Noble (The future belongs to those who show up)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
From my profile page:

Separation of Church and State Article 52 [Religion]

(1) Citizens of the USSR are guaranteed freedom of conscience, that is, the right to profess or not to profess any religion, and to conduct religious worship or atheistic propaganda. Incitement of hostility or hatred on religious grounds is prohibited.

(2) In the USSR, the church is separated from the state, and the school from the church.

-Constitution of the USSR

16 posted on 11/27/2023 12:50:28 PM PST by gitmo (If your biography doesn't match your theology, what good is it?)
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To: Verginius Rufus

The French “Republican Tradition” is a secularist one.


17 posted on 11/27/2023 12:51:32 PM PST by Nextrush (FREEDOM IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS-REMEMBER REV. NIEMOLLER)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Something “liberal” Democrats refuse to understand no matter how many times you tell them: there is no separation of church and state in the Constitution.


18 posted on 11/27/2023 12:51:47 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

He’s absolutely right. The proof is in our history itself. From GW to the present.


19 posted on 11/27/2023 12:51:48 PM PST by Sacajaweau ( )
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To: gitmo

Klansman Justice Black brought this ‘separation of church and state’ phrase into his 1947 Everson decision but yes it’s also the language of Communism.


20 posted on 11/27/2023 12:53:22 PM PST by Nextrush (FREEDOM IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS-REMEMBER REV. NIEMOLLER)
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