Ernie S.
Diamond Member
Without discussion of whether or not the United States Constitution contains the concept or words, separation of church and state, that concept is exactly what the Founding Fathers intended. Perhaps the concept would be better stated, though, Separation of State from Church.
They came from a world where the Church and the State were essentially one; where the government supported the Church and vise versa. One was required to observe the faith of their King.
When setting forth our Constitution, the Founders, when defining individual rights, set speech and religious practice first, as if it was the primary right given by God to his people.
While virtually all at the Constitutional Convention were Christians, or at the very least, deists, they came from many denominations and all were worried that a central government could force Connecticut Congregationalists to observe Baptist tenet, or Virginia Episcopalians would outlaw Methodism in Massachusetts.
To prevent that possibility, they included, first and foremost in their list of inalienable rights, the phrase Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;.
They wanted religion to be free of government interference. They wanted every citizen to be free to worship, or not, without penalty or fear of reprisal or restriction. No where, does the Constitution or The Bill of Rights say anything about excluding religion from government, only the opposite.
Nowhere is it written in those documents that Christians, Jews Muslims or Buddhists are prohibited from praying in a public place, as a matter of fact, it seems logical to say that the 1st Amendment specifically says that the government is forbidden to deny anyone that right.
They came from a world where the Church and the State were essentially one; where the government supported the Church and vise versa. One was required to observe the faith of their King.
When setting forth our Constitution, the Founders, when defining individual rights, set speech and religious practice first, as if it was the primary right given by God to his people.
While virtually all at the Constitutional Convention were Christians, or at the very least, deists, they came from many denominations and all were worried that a central government could force Connecticut Congregationalists to observe Baptist tenet, or Virginia Episcopalians would outlaw Methodism in Massachusetts.
To prevent that possibility, they included, first and foremost in their list of inalienable rights, the phrase Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;.
They wanted religion to be free of government interference. They wanted every citizen to be free to worship, or not, without penalty or fear of reprisal or restriction. No where, does the Constitution or The Bill of Rights say anything about excluding religion from government, only the opposite.
Nowhere is it written in those documents that Christians, Jews Muslims or Buddhists are prohibited from praying in a public place, as a matter of fact, it seems logical to say that the 1st Amendment specifically says that the government is forbidden to deny anyone that right.
