A column about history, culture, policy, and things in between.
Part I of this article dealt with the historical framework and political experiences that formed the Founders views with respect to this issue. In Part II we’ll consider what the First Amendment says, and where the phrase “separation of Church and State” actually came from. Following is the text of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….”.
So where does oft-quoted term “wall of separation between Church and State” come from? It was in a letter penned by Thomas Jefferson to the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut in January of 1802, many years after the US Constitution was ratified. Wrote Jefferson:
“I contemplate with sovereign reverence the 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”.
Many activists on both sides of this issue who now cite the “separation” phrase don’t know its origin, and don’t know the context of Jefferson’s letter, which I don’t have time to go into. So whatever one’s views on this, let’s at least understand what the language of the Constitution says and what it DOESN’T say, and where the “separation” phrase originated.
My views on this matter have little to do with my RELIGIOUS beliefs and everything to do with my POLITICAL beliefs.
The writings of the Founders leave no doubt as to their views on the role of religion in the formation of our societal fabric and the effective functioning of governments. That said, America was NOT founded as a Christian nation; it was founded as a political entity. The Founders fashioned and established secular political institutions, then took great care to define and limit the authorities of the Federal Government so that the people of America would have the liberty to pursue their conscience on such matters.
They saw our Federal Government as having no role in establishing ANY particular creed or religion. But there can be equally little doubt that they intended all powers and authorities that were not specifically ascribed to the Federal Government to be the sphere of States and localities across the Nation, so that their Legislatures could debate and decide such matters according to the desires and will of their respective citizenries, and then be accountable for their decisions on such matters at the polls.
It seems to me we have traveled a very long way from the language contained in the First Amendment. Today we see un-elected and unaccountable members of the Federal Judiciary, and an army of lawyers in their wake, issuing supposedly binding decrees over how the good people of Dallas or Brookfield may or may not decorate their civic buildings at Christmas time. Or what proclamations of law and antiquity are allowed for display in their public buildings. Or where local communities can or cannot hold particular ceremonies deemed to be of great importance to the people of those communities. And all of this is done while ascribing to the Constitution language it does not contain, and intentions of the Founders for which I see no evidence.
To me this is not about religion. It is about political liberty, and what processes and institutions are used to determine such questions.
As I read history, the Founders would have deemed such matters best decided by the States and municipalities, and would have been horrified at the notion of a Federal District Judge in Florida or Ohio, or an attorney sitting in Spokane, forcing their views and interpretations of the Constitution upon the people of Brookfield or Elm Grove.
That’s how I see it - how about you?
