This is my first blog and I can't wait to get started. Hugh Hewitt is a primary source of encouragement in starting this blog. For the most part this blog will be about my views on history and politics and anything else that catches my interest.
I'm a history and math teacher at a christian school and enjoy myself immensely.
I'm going to post my thesis from last semester at the University I hope you all enjoy.
Is the current definition of the Separation of Church and State really what was intended?
The elderly janitor shuffled into the storage shed behind the
building and promptly turned on the lights, illuminating the
room. Setting his mop in the slot and the bucket full of cleaners
on the shelf to the left, he noticed the tarp covering a huge
object in the corner covered in dust. He remembered when
the object had been prominently displayed in the lobby of the
courthouse, but the judges had it removed because of its religious
significance.
This scene is playing out continually in our nation and in our
courts across this country, ruling against religious displays in
public places or schools. Is this adaptation of the principle of
“Separation of Church and State” really what the founders
intended by the First Amendment of the Constitution?
The United States was founded on religious principles, virtues,
and the freedom to practice any chosen religion. John White,
a clergyman in the early 1600’s said, “The most eminent and
desirable end of planting colonies is the propagation of Religion.” 1
Jamestown, which included the conversion of the Indians in
their charter, and Plymouth, which was started in the New
World for religious freedom from the Anglican Church of
England, were started for religious purposes. One was in
service to a national religion and the other was fleeing a
national religion, which gives our nation an interesting
founding, a founding with religious undertones.
During the early years of the colonies, religion saturated
society so much that Bibles were in every home, children
learned to read from the Bible, and church on Sunday was
an all-day event. 2 In orthodox Calvinist New England one
had to be a church member even to vote,3 and policies like
these permeated the colonies. The Delaware State Constitution
stated one had to profess Christ as his personal Savior and to
acknowledge the trinity to take public office.4
The original charters and constitutions of the colonies showed a
respect toward religion, for example, The Fundamental
Constitution of the Carolinas, written by John Locke, in 1663
stated, “No man shall be permitted to be a freeman of Carolina,
or to have any estate of habitation within it that doth not
acknowledge a God, and that God is publicly and solemnly to
be worshipped,”5 and the Constitution of South Carolina in 1778
stated, “Article XXXVIII. That all persons and religious societies
who acknowledge that there is one God, and a future state of
rewards and punishments, and that God is publicly to be worshipped,
shall be freely tolerated…That all denominations of Christian[s]… in
this State…shall enjoy equal religious and civil privileges.” 6 Even
though it was required that a person be religious there was no
stipulation to what type of religion must be worshiped, showing that
a government could be religious without establishing a national
or state religion.
Religion was a major part of the Founders’ lives. Most of the signers
of the Constitution were devoutly religious: they included religion
in all they did and many encouraged others to read the Bible on a
daily basis. Dr. Miles Bradford of the University of Dallas has shown
that only 3 of the 55, or 5 percent, of the signers of the Constitution
were Deist, the others included: seven Congregationalists,
twenty-five Episcopalians, two Dutch Reformed, ten Presbyterians,
three Quakers, two Catholics, two Methodist, and one Lutheran.7
The original signers were a perfect example of the religious freedom
they implemented within the First Amendment of the Constitution, a
mixture of religion with politics not a removal of religion from
politics. William Johnson, one of the original signers of the Constitution,
said “Your first great duties, you are sensible, are those you owe to
Heaven, to your Creator and Redeemer. Let these be ever present
to your minds, and exemplified in your lives and conduct.”8 The
signers believed that they could and should have religion in every part
of their lives, including their political lives. They could not separate
their religious lives from their political lives; and in fact, studies have
proven that the Bible has directly contributed to thirty-four percent
of all their quotes.9 They never suggested that they must check their
religion at the door when they entered politics; in fact, they emphasized
the opposite: they needed their religion more when they entered politics.
The original Founders believed that government derived its powers
from God and that belief is exemplified in their writings. Since God is
the source of all governmental powers, it only stands to reason that
religion must be infused into politics like a human body must have
blood in order to survive. John Adams wrote on August 28, 1811,
“Religion and virtue are the only foundations, not only of republicanism
and all of free government, but of social felicity under all governments
and in all combinations of human society.” 10 Timothy Dwight, the
president of Yale, said in 1798, “Religion and liberty are the meat and
drink of the body of politic” and he goes on to say, “If our religion were
gone, our state of society would perish with it, and nothing would be left.”11
Alexander Hamilton admitted that without the finger of God such various interests
would never have established the Constitution12 and the whole Congress admitted the
same thing in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which states, “SECTION 13. And, for
extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis
whereon these republics, their laws, and constitutions are erected.”13 These men believed
that religion was the basis for all government. With that reasoning they chose to
include religion in their politics, as well as their laws, for without it the body of our
nation would die.
In his first inaugural address George Washington prayed to God. Today, he
would be criticized for flagrantly wearing his religion on his sleeve and for his
intolerance of other religions. He lived what he believed and constantly referred to God,
prayed, and read his Bible daily.13 Under his presidency the Congress actually issued an
order to print 20,000 Bibles for the Indians, an order that would violate today’s definition
of separation;14 and they appointed Mr. J. Duche chaplain of the Congress,15 something
they still do to this day. Their blending of religion into politics did not stop here; they
included religion’s ideas and ideals into many laws issued on the state and federal level.
The Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, issued by Congress
on July 6, 1775, asked for God’s mercy throughout the Revolutionary conflict; and on
March 16, 1776, they appointed a day of prayer and fasting, which has reoccurred many
times throughout the history of the United States.16 In 1783, the peace treaty with Great
Britain began with these words, “In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity,”
another inclusion of religion within a governmental document.17
Jefferson and Madison were both against the state government of Virginia funding
churches and disagreed with Patrick Henry on the issue but nowhere in the 2,000 printed
letters between them is there any hostility towards religion. They both hated the
intolerance of religious practice by those would not accept the authenticity of diverse
beliefs.18
These inclusions of religion within governmental policy stretched into the
government’s involvement in education, involvement which today has been all but
banned. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 states “Article III. Religion, morality, and
knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools
and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”19 Benjamin Franklin wrote in
his Proposal Relating to the Education of Youth that religion needed to be included in the
curriculum, which Horace Mann included in his public school system in Massachusetts.20
Benjamin Rush said, in reference to education in 1798, “I shall proceed in the next
place, to inquire, what mode of education we shall adopt so as to secure to the state all the
advantages that are to be derived from the proper institution of youth; and here I beg
leave to remark, that the only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid
in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no
liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments. “ 21 The Founders
believed that religion was necessary not only for good government but also in
the education of the youth so that they would develop into productive citizens. They
believed that if the U.S. were to lose religion in education, the quality of her citizens
would devalue; and in order to have good citizens, the nation needed to incorporate
religion into education. Mr. Rush believed that the loss of religion in education would
lead to the loss of virtue and inevitably liberty, which is the foundation of our nation.
Today, religion has been removed from schools under the auspices of the separation of
the church and state, completely opposing the Founders’ intent and whether the quality of
the citizens has declined would be opened to debate.
We may ask ourselves that if these men were so religious why have a First
Amendment at all; but when the original discussions on the First Amendment are
reviewed some interesting things come to light. James Madison wrote the initial draft but
the House Select Committee revised the words on August 15, 1789 to “No religion shall
be established by law, nor shall the equal rights of conscience be infringed.” 22 Peter
Sylvester, New York’s representative, objected to the Select Committee’s revision
because he feared that it would lead to the abolishment of religion altogether.23
Congressmen Benjamin Huntington feared that the words would hurt the cause of
religion and suggested that “The amendment be made in such a way as to secure the
rights of religion, but not to patronize those who professed no religion at all.”24 These
men wanted to preserve religion’s rights but not require religious observance from all
citizens. The First Amendment was to limit the government from establishing a national
religion but without harming or hindering religion; in fact, Daniel Adams refused to have
Massachusetts ratify the Constitution because there was no guarantee that the government
would support religion’s growth.25
Jefferson is quoted many times as the creator of the phrase “wall of separation” and
as a proponent of the separation of church and state, which he was. He believed the
government shouldn’t regulate churches but even he was never against religion being in
politics or guiding politics with ideological policies. In a letter to the Danbury Baptist,
who also supported a separation of church and state, he said that the government needs to
stay out of the churches but nowhere in that letter does he support the removal of religion
from government. 26
The Founders were all deeply religious people who devoted themselves to their God
and nation and would not divorce their religion from their politics, keeping them
irrevocable separate. They believed that religion was the only secure foundation for
government, and in that belief, they included references to God and religion
continuously, which the current state laws and constitutions still contain references to,
and many presidents have declared days of fasting and prayer. They believed that the
education of the youth was dependent on religion to raise upstanding citizens and to
preserve liberty and republic government. The current definition of separation does not
allow for the inclusion of God or religion into politics in any form and actively seeks to
remove it from government, but the Founders actively sought to include religion in
government. The First Amendment was their way of protecting religion from
government’s intrusion by limiting government’s ability to establish a national religion. It
was never meant to sever all ties between government and religion; and in fact, they
actually feared the consequences of that travesty. I believe the current definition of
separation is completely opposed to the original intent of the First Amendment and the
founders of our nation. The old man shook his head and ambled back out of the room
thinking to himself, “I guess we have forgotten how our nation was founded.” He turned
off the light and with one more look back at the tarp, turned off the light and shut the
door.
Source Notes
1. Paul Johnson, A History of the American People, (New York: Harper Collins,
1999), 30.
2. Ibid., 40.
3. Ibid., 72.
4. William J. Federer, America’s God and Country, (St. Louis, Amerisearch, Inc.,
1999), 203.
5. Ibid., 568.
6. Ibid.
7. Rick Gardiner, Primary Source Documents,
http://personal.pitnet.net/primarysources/denom.html, 11/22/2004.
8. Federer, America’s God and Country, 337.
9. Ibid., 48-49.
10. Ibid., 12.
11. Ibid., 222.
12. Ibid., 273.
13. Tim LaHaye, Faith Of Our Founding Fathers, (Green Forest, Arizona:
Master Books Inc., 1999), 103-104.
14. Ibid., 96.
15. Federer, America’s God and Country, 145.
16. Ibid., 139-140.
17. Ibid., 149.
18. Johnson, A History of the American People, 207.
19. Federer, America’s God and Country, 484.
20. Johnson, A History of the American People, 302.
21. Rick Gardiner, Primary Source Documents,
http://personal.pitnet.net/primarysources/rush.html, 11/22/2004.
22. Federer, America’s God and Country, 158-159.
23. Ibid., 159.
24. Ibid.
25. David Brion Davis and Steven Mintz, ed., The Boisterous Sea of
Liberty, (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1998), 250.
26. Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptist,
http://www.loc.gov/lcib/9806/danpost.html 12/01/04.
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