In 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court bastardized the intentions of Thomas Jefferson and contrived public policy from one of his personal, private letters. This led to a systematic effort by organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union to remove any recognition of God from the public arena.
The latest example of special interest groups utilizing the “separation of church and state” argument is found in Alabama, where a federal court ordered Chief Justice Roy Moore to remove the Ten Commandments monument in the Supreme Court Rotunda.
I don’t intend to defend Moore’s actions or methods, but this case has once again brought the arguments over religious liberty to a boil, and I would be remiss if I failed to defend true religious liberty.
Most would be surprised to hear that the U.S. Constitution contains no mention of a “separation of church and state.” In fact, that phrase only was found in Jefferson’s personal, private letter to the Danbury Baptist Association.
This is probably the sole time in history when national policy was created merely from a single and most private letter. The establishment clause found in the First Amendment simply reads Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
Secondly, when one looks at Jefferson’s actions and words, it is easy to see he had no desire for the government to limit, restrict, regulate or interfere with public religious practices. He simply believed the First Amendment had been enacted to protect religion from governmental oppression, prevent the federal establishment of a national denomination and not allow the United States to become a theocracy.
In another private letter Jefferson wrote to Samuel Millar he stated: “I consider the government of the United States as interdicted [prohibited] by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions … or exercises.”
Jefferson, however, allowed church services to be held in the chambers of the Supreme Court.
Obviously, he did not fear or oppose religious exercises in the public square.
He further declared, “The power to prescribe any religious exercise … must rest with the states.”
The federal courts directly violate the principles of the one they claim to derive their policy from. How can a federal court cite Jefferson then enforce its wishes on each state? It is clear to see Jefferson and the founders meant to leave this authority to the individual states.
Without a doubt religion and the idea of God-given rights helped fuel the fires of the American Revolution and form the founding principles of the United States. Many of the founding fathers recognized the benefits of a religious and moral society in creating and guarding a free republic.
“It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand,” John Adams said.
George Washington echoed Adams’ sentiment when he asked, “Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice?”
The 1962 Engel v. Vitale case led the U.S. Supreme Court to banish public school prayer in the name of the supposed “wall” between church and state. Since then many student religious groups have been prevented from meeting on school property, Bibles have been removed from numerous public school libraries and students who express their faith often do so at the risk of retribution from the administration. The removal of scores of Ten Commandments displays across the nation’s public schools, city halls, public places and courts such as the Alabama Supreme Court shows the resolve and the effectiveness of those who wish for people to only practice their faith in their prayer closet.
Can anyone testify to improved school life since prayer was removed? What improvements has it brought to our society? Gone are the days of petty school problems such as chewing gum and even merely smoking cigarettes in the bathroom. Now our public school students often enter war-zones in their classrooms and deal with problems such as teen pregnancy and STDs. It is not hard to argue that our culture has been on a steady decline. What are we to expect when we forbid the foundation of morality from being freely discussed, presented or acknowledged in America’s public places?
This also has created an environment where people of faith and religious leaders are afraid to speak out or admit to their faith in public. At the time of our founding, many ministers served in Congress and used the pulpit to further the revolution. Today it is difficult to find many religious leaders who will take a stand, and those who do are often criticized and dismissed as “religious right zealots.”
It is time for all to realize the true foundation of our nation. We can’t expect to keep our greatness if we continue to forget what made us great in the first place. All people of faith need to claim the religious freedom our founders wanted for us and fight any oppression of their expression, public or private.
I only can pray that our leaders will place justices who truly understand the religious freedom Jefferson and the founders sought when they founded our great country.
Perhaps Jefferson made the argument best when he asked, “And can the liberties of a nation be though secure if we have lost the only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?”