Separation of Church and State

“The Constitution does not mention the separation of Church and State.  In fact, the Declaration of Independence specifically mentions God, and the founding fathers were deeply religious men.  This notion of ’separation of church and state’ is an invention of the 20th century, it’s a fabrication that needs to be eradicated.” – Rush Limbaugh

This issue is pretty clear, but it’s been made muddy by a lot of rhetoric and misinformation…like the errors in the quote above.  The grand-standing tends to focus on three issues:  the pledge of allegiance, “In God we Trust” on money, and displaying the Ten Commandments in government buildings.*  This issue is used to get Christian Fundamentalists all stirred up.  It’s silliest when it comes around every year, in the form of “liberals trying to outlaw Christmas.”

But Wise Up!  If the separation of church and state is such an important issue, how come there aren’t any focused cases headed for the Supreme Court?  Because losing on this issue there is a virtual certainty. This issue is in the media only to get you frothed up and angry.

In the Constitution, the founding fathers were explicit:  Congress was not to make any laws that would establish any religion.  No religious test was to be used for any holder of public office.  By implication, the Federal government wasn’t to do anything that favored one religion over another (although the states could).  The Constitution doesn’t even mention the words “God” or “church” or “faith” at all. Some of the founding fathers were deeply agnostic, and all of them wanted freedom for all religions.  In the Federalist Papers — where the intent of the Constitution was debated — the founding fathers were pretty clear about what they wanted.  Thomas Jefferson wrote that the Constitution was “building a wall of separation between Church and State.”

The Supreme Court from its earliest days has been very consistent in interpreting the Constitution:  the government must not take a stand on religious issues or any specific religion.  The Supreme Court even refers to this as a doctrine.

Even if the government should be encouraging faith, where would you draw the line?  There are over 150 languages spoken in the US, and probably the same number of religious sects.  If you want to put up something for Christmas, what about Channukah and Russian Orthodox Christmas and Kwanzaa?  The founders had it right:  just say no.

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*The irony of the quote at the top of the page is that it’s these three “godly” examples are the “fabrications” of modern times.  The pledge of allegiance and the 10 commandments in front of public buildings are from the 1950s and in god we trust on money comes from the 1880s.

Find out more…

• Web Resource: The serious stuff all in one place

• Hypocrites:  Those who scream for the 10 commandments don’t know what they are

• The Bill of Rights:  Take a minute to read just the first paragraph of this article

• The Federalist Papers:  What did the Founding Fathers intend?

• The Constitution:  The prototype for every modern government — be proud of it!

What did we get wrong?