Keep 'em Separated
Today I heard someone state that "the separation of church and state" is not in the Constitution. I really wanted to rebutt that, but didn't have quite enough knowledge to do so. Thanks to the Web and Wikipedia, I now have such knowledge and will be better prepared the next time I hear someone spewing this misinformation.
Here's a a short bit about the origins of "the separation of church and state" and why our forefathers thought it important enough to spell it out in the First Amendment to our Constitution. If you have doubts as to the Constitutionality of the First Amendment, keep in mind that it was authored and ratified by many of the people who wrote the Constitution and makes up 1/10th of what we now refer to as The Bill of Rights.
Here's the First Amendment in it's entirety:
"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." - The First Amendment to the Unites States Constitution.
Now to me, that seems pretty straight forward. The government cannot make a law that respects, (I read that as endorse or support) an establishment of religion (aka church), or prohibit the free exercise thereof…
I have heard arguments that isn't exactly what the founding fathers meant. But let's look first at what George Washington wrote to the Touro Synagogue, the country's first Jewish congregation in 1790, the year before the First Amendment was ratified.
"All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it were by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support." - George Washington
It is apparent that Washington wanted to convey the idea of a Government founded on tolerance, with no sanction to bigotry, no persecution for beliefs, only that those who live here demean themselves as good citizens. Not good Christians, not good Anglicans, not good Baptists, just good citizens.
Step forward about a decade and Thomas Jefferson writes a letter to the Danbury Baptists clarifying the reason behind the First Amendment, and specifically mentioning separation.
"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 legislative 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 "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and State" - Thomas Jefferson
If you doubt he really meant a separation of church and state, then please go read the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom that Jefferson wrote in 1779.
I could quote a number of more sources including religious leaders of the time, that obviously stood for the separation of church and state, but then you won't have any reason to read my sources and draw your own conclusion.
Go read, educate yourself, even just a little, about the origins of our freedoms and stand up and speak the truth when people start spewing misinformation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Statute_for_Religious_Freedom