IT'S TIME TO CONFRONT THE "SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE" MYTH

On Wednesday June 19, Governor Jeff Landry of Louisiana signed into law a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public schools. Secular organizations like the ACLU immediately threatened lawsuits because, according to them, it violates the “separation of church and state.”

However, the phrase “Separation of Church and State” is nowhere to be found in America’s founding documents. It was never used by any of the Founders. It is a myth created by anti-Christian activists who want to purge the nation of its Christian heritage.

A Manipulation of Jefferson’s Words

The phrase is a manipulation of Jefferson’s words in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut dated January 1, 1802. In the letter, Jefferson addresses their concerns about how they will be treated in the new nation.

They had reason for concern for, throughout Europe, the Baptists had been an outlawed Christian sect, severely persecuted by the state and the state-sanctioned churches, both Catholic and Protestant. They were imprisoned and put to death because they refused to conform to the official church doctrines and practices imposed by the state.

In his response, Jefferson quoted that part of the Amendment which reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." He assured the Baptists that this meant that, in America, there would be “a wall of separation” that would protect them from the intrusion of the state.

Jefferson’s “wall of separation” was obviously unidirectional, in place to keep the government out of the church, not the other way around. His own actions affirm this, for as president, he took money from the federal treasury to pay for a missionary to the Kaskaskia Indian tribe and to build a church building for them in which to worship (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 149).

The View of the Founders is Clear

The words and deeds of the Founders make it clear that they never intended a “separation of church and state.” They did not want a national church like the nations of Europe since Constantine, but they believed that only Christianity provided the moral and intellectual underpinnings for a stable and prosperous nation.

Indeed, the day after ratifying the First Amendment, the Founders proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer. John Adams expressed the consensus of the Founders when he said, “Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other (Hyatt, 1726: TheYear that Defined America, 168).

Their position was confirmed by Joseph Story (1779-1845) who served as a Supreme Court Justice for thirty-four years from 1811-1845. Commenting on the First Amendment, Story said,

We are not to attribute this prohibition of a national religious establishment to an indifference in religion, and especially to Christianity, which none could hold in more reverence than the framers of the Constitution (Hyatt, 1726: TheYear that Defined America, 152).

The Summation of the Matter

Governor Jeff Landy is to be applauded for his courage and insight. The removal of prayer, Bible reading, and Christian symbols from the classrooms, beginning in 1963, has led to a deadly deterioration of both morals and academic accomplishment. America’s root problem is neither political nor economic but spiritual and moral. God bless Governor Jeff Landy for taking steps to get at the root of the problem.

This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s book, 1726: The Year that Defined America, available from Amazon and his website at http://eddiehyatt.com.