SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE (Part II)

The greatest myth bandied about these days is the myth that the founding fathers of our republic intended to create a republic based on Judeo-Christian principles. This myth may give comfort to millions who yearn for a society based solely on the religious doctrine of our nation's two most predominant religions – Judaism and Christianity, but that yearning was not shared by the founding fathers of this republic and claims to the contrary are nothing more than wishful thinking. They are surely not historical fact.

James Madison, the fourth President of the United States, is recognized as the primary drafter of the United States Constitution. These were his stated views on government and religion:

"And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together."

"In no instance have...the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people."

"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries."

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, had these words to say on the subject:

"I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises. " --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Miller, 1808.

"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes." --Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, 1813.

Benjamin Franklin noted:

"When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it so that its professors are obliged to call for help of the civil power, 'tis a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."

George Washington had this to say on the subject:

"[N]o one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of . . . every species of religious persecution. . . ."

John Adams wrote:

"Nothing is more dreaded than the national government meddling with religion."

"The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature. . . . [In] the formation of the American governments…it will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of heaven. . . . These governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses."

"[T]he government of the United States of America is not founded in any sense on the Christian religion. . . ." (From "The Treaty with Tripoli," approved by President Adams and unanimously ratified by the Senate.)

Andrew Jackson noted:

"I could not do otherwise without transcending the limits prescribed by the Constitution for the President and without feeling that I might in some degree disturb the security which religion nowadays enjoys in this country in its complete separation from the political concerns of the General Government." (In a statement declining to proclaim a national day of prayer and fasting.)

Alexander Hamilton proclaimed:

"The [president] has no particle of spiritual jurisdiction. . . ."

Thomas Paine wrote:

"As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of all government to protect all conscientious professors thereof, and I know of no other business which government hath to do therewith."

Even French political writer, Alexis de Tocqueville was impressed by the Founder's view that religion had no place in government or political affairs. He wrote:

"I found that they all agreed with each other except about details; all thought that the main reason for the quiet sway of religion over their country was the complete separation of church and state. I have no hesitation in stating that throughout my stay in America I met nobody, lay or cleric, who did not agree about that."

For those who are quick to point out that current-day legislative bodies employ the practice of opening sessions with prayer, perhaps they would be surprised that the founding fathers were decidedly against the practice. Franklin Steiner, a noted constitutional historian observed:

"[W]hen it was proposed to open the Constitutional Convention, over which he [George Washington] presided, with prayer, the motion was lost. Only three or four of the delegates favored it, and it is not recorded that Washington was one of them."

Finally, the U.S. Constitution (Article VI, Clause 3) states:

"[N]o religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

The simple truth of the matter is that America's founding fathers would be aghast at hearing modern day political rhetoric suggesting they formulated a government based on religious principles and intended that government to reflect the religious precepts of Christianity and Judaism. Nothing could be farther from the truth.