Your Opinion: Separation of church and state?

“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.” This is the First Amendment from our Constitution and the section of this I wish to analyze is “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Why was this important to the founding fathers? How is it we constantly hear the quote “separation of church and state”?

Our founding fathers were men from many denominations of Christian faiths such as Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Quaker, Dutch/German Reformed, Lutheran, Catholic, Huguenot, Unitarian, Methodist, Calvinist. Their forefathers came from many European countries. During the 16th and 17th century most European countries were ruled by governments which were tied directly to a national church / religious faith, which was one of the reasons people fled Europe for the Americas. This is the basis of why the founding fathers did not want Congress to establish any one religion over another. Their intent was to ensure no one religion was forced upon the people. Thus the quote “freedom of religion.”

The Constitution does not say “separation of church and state,” so why is this the mantra we hear all the time? What the Constitution does say is “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” which means the federal government is prohibited from establishing a national religion. It also says, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” meaning the people are free to exercise any denominations they wish without government intervention.

The quote “separation of church and state” we hear these days has its roots from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association on Jan 1, 1802 and a Supreme court ruling, Everson v. Board of Education 1947. “The First Amendment has erected a ‘wall of separation between church and state.’ That wall must be kept high and impregnable.” This was not the first time a Supreme Court ruled on a separation of church and state; however, it was the first time the Supreme Court limited Thomas Jefferson’s letters' interpretation to one line of the letter instead of the full content. Thomas Jefferson wrote the letter to help reassure the Baptist ministers that the government would not interfere with their practices and had nothing to do with expressions of religion in public places.

Many people have questioned the logic of removing prayer from school, several seconds for students to reflect and say thank you. Yet, the evidence is obvious that our society has not progressed forward on moral values but actually regressed. So why then are we allowing what we know is good and right to be pushed to the wayside?

We are a republic, which means “We the People” bear a responsibility to make our voices heard by contacting our elected representatives and letting them know where we stand. We also should require those candidates wishing to become our representatives to tell us what they hold true in their hearts before elections. We have few leaders in our government these days, but we do have a lot of politicians. The difference being that a leader leads by explaining and directing actions to accomplish goals. Politicians are self-involved individuals whose primary purpose is themselves first, so they do not lead; they take the path of less resistance.

So let your voices be heard. Contact your representative and express your wishes. I would also use the First Amendment if you have a chance to speak in a public place to say a prayer. For you are “We the People,” and by saying a prayer as an individual does not mean the government is establishing a religion.



Jeff Korson

Alapaha

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