One of the fundamental tenants of our country is the idea of freedom of religion, a right firmly established in the First Amendment. However, over the years, a second tenant has emerged which many feel supersedes or reinterprets this right, and that is the phrase “separation of church and state.” Ironically, this phrase never appears in the Constitution but rather was penned in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut in 1801.
History reveals that the idea of separation of church and state is not to keep religion out of government but to keep the government out of religion, something many of the early pilgrims had experienced in their home countries.
The first amendment reads "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” (emphasis mine)
And in his letter Jefferson emphasized that this separation’s “purpose was to preserve ‘rights of conscience,’ not to strip God from government.” (Lillback)
Unfortunately, this misreading/misinterpretation of history has set up what some call a “wall of separation between church and state” that was never meant to be, and consequently has seen God removed from almost every area of public life.
I have linked two wonderful articles regarding this twisting of meaning and its unfortunate results, all of which we are seeing in abundance today.The first is a Forbes article called “The True Meaning of Separation of Church and State” by Bill Flax, and the second is an opinion piece by Peter Lillback called “Tear Down the Wall of Church and State.”
As mentioned before in two previous blogs, the more God is removed, the more evil ensues. This past week I came across a Reba McIntire song that was first recorded in 2017. While the two articles above discuss the cause and the results, her song reminds us of the cure.
History reveals that the idea of separation of church and state is not to keep religion out of government but to keep the government out of religion, something many of the early pilgrims had experienced in their home countries.
The first amendment reads "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” (emphasis mine)
And in his letter Jefferson emphasized that this separation’s “purpose was to preserve ‘rights of conscience,’ not to strip God from government.” (Lillback)
Unfortunately, this misreading/misinterpretation of history has set up what some call a “wall of separation between church and state” that was never meant to be, and consequently has seen God removed from almost every area of public life.
I have linked two wonderful articles regarding this twisting of meaning and its unfortunate results, all of which we are seeing in abundance today.The first is a Forbes article called “The True Meaning of Separation of Church and State” by Bill Flax, and the second is an opinion piece by Peter Lillback called “Tear Down the Wall of Church and State.”
As mentioned before in two previous blogs, the more God is removed, the more evil ensues. This past week I came across a Reba McIntire song that was first recorded in 2017. While the two articles above discuss the cause and the results, her song reminds us of the cure.
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