Separation of Church and State

 

There are, unfortunately, lies that get planted in our hearts and minds that remain there until truth shines upon them. One of the biggest lies that we have been told and taught in school is the idea of “separation of church and state”. In fact, many people believe it is part of our Constitution, but in all reality, it can’t be found in the Declaration of Independence or in our Constitution.

 

People believe that it is found in the First Amendment to the Constitution and yet, when reading the First Amendment we see otherwise.

 

             Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

 

There is nothing there about church or state or separation. Why then, is the idea of “separation of church and state” so ingrained in our minds? Those who have had an agenda against religion have told us that the intent of this statement is clear, but who is to say what the original intent was?

 

Fortunately, the authors of the Constitution were wise enough to know that mankind has the potential to twist things to their own advantage, and required a journal to record the explanation of all bills, the debate between legislators and all questions covered during the discussion of the bills. In this way, people can know the original intent of any bill.

 

If we go back and read those transcripts, we will find that considerable time was spent debating the First Amendment to the Constitution. From June 8 to September 25, 1789, Congress discussed the details and parameters of this amendment. Yet nowhere in the Annals of Congress or the writings of the founding fathers who drafted the First Amendment, will you find the phrase “separation of church and state.”

 

The phrase "separation of church and state "was taken from a letter written by one of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson. It was found in a personal letter where Jefferson was raising concerns about religious liberty ever being infringed upon by the American government. Jefferson responded that this would not occur because the Constitution builds “a wall of separation between church and state."

 

Simply stated, Jefferson was using the phrase to describe the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, which says, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof “. The protection of our rights to live out our faith without government interference is what was being expressed both in the letter and in the First Amendment?

 

The Supreme Court however twisted Jefferson’s words without considering the rest of his personal letter. Jefferson was not one of the Congressmen that passed the Bill of Rights, which contained the First Amendment and, in fact, was in Europe when the Constitution was planned and established. So, we can’t use Jefferson to explain intent. The intent must be explained by those who debated the issues.

 

The debate emphasized the need to avoid another Church of England being established in America. In other words, they were trying to prevent a national denomination from being forced upon the citizens.

 

Unfortunately, in 1962 the Supreme Court, using their twisted understanding of “separation of church and state,” to rule that the following prayer was unconstitutional and banned it from being recited by children in our public schools.

 

            Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg

           Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.

 

This cannot be blamed on Jefferson. An evil that hates God and all believers has twisted the minds of our leaders to believe a lie and has yet to be restored.

 

Kathleen Nunn