|
Separation of Church and State
The phrase "Separation of Church and State" is not found anywhere in our Constitution.
The Constitution was written in 1787 and The Bill of Rights, which are the first 10 amendments, were written in 1789. The phrase ‘Separation of Church and State’ originated 13 years later, in 1802, when Thomas Jefferson responded to a letter written to him by the Danbury Baptist Association.
The Danbury Baptist Association was a religious minority in the state of Connecticut concerned that religious liberties they cherished were not viewed as inalienable rights but only as favors granted by the state.
In his letter Jefferson made reference to the First Amendment which says:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Jefferson did not try to define nor create a new dimension to the First Amendment. He merely restated the First Amendment saying "their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." He used the phrase "wall of separation between the church and state" to reemphasize that the government was not to establish a national church and the government would not have authority in and through the church.
At no time did Jefferson mean to exclude belief in God from the government. He was talking about keeping government out of the church, not the other way around. He certainly never intended for his words to be used as justification for eliminating religious issues from public view.
To support this point, here is a statement Jefferson made in his Second Inaugural Address in 1805.
“In matter of religion, I have considered that its free exercise is placed by the Constitution independent of the powers of the General Government. I have therefore undertaken, on no occasion, to prescribe the religious exercise suited to it; but have left them, as the Constitution found them, under the direction and discipline of state and church authorities acknowledged by the several religious societies.”
The point of all of this was to reinforce the meaning of the First Amendment which is to keep the government out of the church and to secure freedom of religion.
To read these documents click: www.loc.gov/index.html .
| 