Tag: church and state

I wrote this blog entry to set the record straight. With all references to God being eradicated by the day by our government, I am here to inform everyone reading this blog that that the jurisdiction or intent for these actions never originated from our Founding Fathers.

Many state that the Constitution mandates a separation of “church and state”. However, anyone who has ever read the Constitution will quickly realize that this phrase is nowhere to be found in it. Though it’s quoted all the time, there is no reference anywhere as to its authenticity! Basically, it was never said or even written.

Some point to Amendment 1 which states:

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.

However, when you actually read it, there is no reference to the separation of church and state. Thus, where did this erroneous idea originate?

Bethany Blankley form the Christian Post sums it up rather nicely:

The U.S. Supreme Court first cited the phrase, “wall of separation between church and state,” in 1947 (Everson v. Board of Educ. of Ewing, 330 U.S. 1, 15-16) from a well-known concept expressed by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association.

While the Supreme Court did rule that a “wall of separation between church and state” exists, they did so based upon seven words from one personal letter rather than from the Constitution. As a result, the Supreme Court created an erroneous precedent, ruling that law could be created from a personal letter instead of the Constitution.

Even if a letter was a law in the United States, the Supreme Court misinterpreted what Jefferson wrote. It, like most people, make judgments about facts and/or statements by taking a text out of context, thereby redefining the original meaning of the text.

During this time, the Baptists’ primary concern was if the government granted rights to freely express religious beliefs, it could also regulate or eliminate these rights.

In summary, the crux of the message was that government had to business in interfering with religion, and that all religious freedoms could only be granted by God and not the government.

Plus the Declaration of Independence, which Jefferson signed, echoed these sentiments exactly:

…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men…

The point can be made no clearer than the above words in our Declaration of Independence. The function of government is not meant to grant any religious rights to people but to ensure that these God given rights are protected. It is the entire basis of this document and of our entire government. Thus, to remove all religion or belief in God from our government would be like removing all meaning from our Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

Many ask how our country got to where it is today. The bottom line is that without God there is no Constitution. And without the Constitution we have become a soulless society devoid of morality, lawless and corrupt.