Our First Amendment is the guardian of many great and unique things in America.
Our First Amendment is the guardian of many great and unique things in America.
“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.”
The Establishment Clause (make no law respecting an establishment of religion) of the First Amendment is likely the most litigated in all of the Bill of Rights. Though not all of the Founders were Christians, they were pious men and our nation’s founding was deeply shaped by Christian morality.
In June 1787, Benjamin Franklin at the Continental Congress made a request that prayer open every secession of Congress and Congress today employs chaplains to open its daily business. As researched by Jim Allison in “Separation of Church and State,” Moses and/or the 10 Commandments appear three times in the architectural embellishment of the Supreme Court building. And most don’t know it, but the Bible was long ago the one standard textbook in this country.
So where did this “separation of church and state” come from? It’s certainly not found in the Constitution. The statement about a wall of separation between church and state was made in a letter on Jan. 1, 1802, by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut, which was concerned about a rumor that the Congregationalists, another denomination, were to become the national religion.
Jefferson made it clear in his letter that the separation was to be that government would not establish a national religion or dictate to men how to worship God. According to Tim Greenwood of “The Myth of the Separation of Church and State,” Americans knew what would happen if the state established the church like in England, where even worship in private homes was forbidden. The people did not want freedom from religion, but freedom of religion.
A strict separationist view is not supported by the Constitution but usage of the phrase “separation of church and state” by Supreme Court Justice Black in 1947 in Everson v. Board of Education laid the groundwork and precedence for the many cases that have since ripped religion out of much of America’s public life. We have faltered from the framers’ intent to a point where cities and counties today are forced to remove religious symbols such as crosses or seasonal nativity scenes under threat of litigation.
All mention of God or religion has been pushed out. Today it’s nearly illegal to discuss Christianity in public schools while studying Islam is acceptable as multiculturalism. Christmas vacation is now winter break; Easter is spring break — removing all religious connotation.
We see the result of the lack of moral teachings in our public schools and in our culture. Violence and bullying are rampant and teachers are no longer respected but are disciplinarians and dispensers of liberal group-think while critical thinking and the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic have fallen by the way side.
As citizens of a free republic it is our duty to preserve it. If you would like to take a free online course on the U. S. Constitution go to: www.freeconstitutioncourse.com.
Mikie Kerr is a Waikoloa resident and Constitution enthusiast who writes an opinion column for West Hawaii Today