Separation Of Church And State
1800 - Thomas Jefferson is attributed with the origin of the phrase: "Separation of church and state."
A letter to Benjamin Rush - Sept.23, 1800 - President Jefferson committed himself to not allow any denomination to achieve the "establishment of a particular form of Christianity."
Danbury Baptists wrote to Jefferson - Nov.7, 1801 - They were concerned that "free exercise of religion" appeared in the First Amendment. To them, this implied the government had the power to regulate religious expression. They believed that freedom of religion was a God-granted, unalienable right, and that the government should be powerless to restrict religious activities unless those activities caused someone to "work ill to his neighbor."
Jefferson's response - Jan.1,1802: "The free exercise of religion was an unalienable right and not be meddled with by the government. The First Amendment has erected a wall of separation between church and state."
Jefferson's letter is quoted out-of-context today without regard to its original intent.
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The clear understanding of the First Amendment for a century and a half: it prohibited establishing a single national denomination.
1953 - A group petitioned Congress to separate church and state in order to turn out (ban) chaplains from Congress, the military, and other governmental agencies.
House Judiciary Committee Report - March 27, 1854 - "Had the people (The Founding Fathers), during the Revolution, a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle...At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and its amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, but not any one sect (denomination)."
The report continued: "In this age, there is no substitute for Christianity ... That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants."
Two months later: "The great vital and conservative element in our system (the thing that holds our system together) is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and the divine truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
The Committee would not separate these principles because they had been the foundation for our country's success.
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1801 - Danbury Baptists to Thomas Jefferson Nov 7, 1801: The government should be powerless to restrict religious practices.
The government will never act to restrict religious beliefs.
1854 - Mar 27, 1854: Separate Christian principles from government and State. The universal sentiment was to be Christian, but not any one denomination.
1878 - Oct.1878: Reynolds vs. United States: The Supreme Court used Jefferson's letter to assure that Christian principles be maintained as part of official policy.
1947: Everson VS. Board of Education: Thomas Jefferson's original letter was read only in part by the Court.
The Court read only selected words from the letter. "The First Amendment has erected a wall of separation between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable." The Court took Jefferson's letter completely out of context.
Dr. William James - The Father of Modern Psychology: "There is nothing so absurd but that if you repeat it often enough people will begin to believe it." (In reference to the phrase: "Separation of Church and State)
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The Supreme Court after 1947 - Began to speak of a "separation of church and state," saying, "This is what the Founders wanted - separation of church and state. This is their great intent."
1958 - Baer vs. Kolmorgen - A dissenting judge who was tired of hearing the phrase "separation of church and state," warned that continuing talk about the "separation of church and state" would make people think it was part of the Constitution.
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1962 - June 25, 1962: Separation of Church and State - Engel vs. Vitale
This case for the first time separated Christian principles from education.
The court declared a 22-word prayer unconstitutional.
"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our Country."
The Supreme Court removed prayer from public schools.
The World Book Encyclopedia in 1963 stated that this was the first time that there had been a separation of church and state in education
The Court redefined the meaning and application of the word "church". This was the turning point:
For 170 years before the case, the court defined "church" as being a federally established denomination.
This 1962 case redefined "church" to mean any religious activity performed in public.
Now, the 1st Amendment would no longer only protect against the establishment of a national denomination, but prohibit religious activities in public settings.
The current doctrine defining "separation of church and state" is brand new. It is not from the Founding Fathers.
School prayer was the first casualty in the redefinition of the word "church."
School prayer was now deemed a religious activity and deemed in violation of church and state.
School prayer had never been established as a national denomination and had always been acceptable.
Now that school prayer was now deemed to be a religious activity in public, it was now deemed to be unconstitutional.
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Recall:
Church of the Holy Trinity vs. United States (1892): Quoted 87 precedents.
The new 1962 ruling stated no precedents: It did not quote any previous legal cases or historical incidents.
Within 12 months (1963), the Supreme Court also removed: Bible readings, religious classes, and religious instruction from schools.
1963 - June 17, 1963: Abington Vs Schempp & Murray vs. Curlett:
- Reaffirmed the ban on school prayer
- Banned school Bible reading
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Recall:
Schools must teach the Bible to fully understand government.
- Founders relied on the Bible
- Early textbooks quoted the Bible.
- Early Supreme Court cases ruled that a school must teach religion and the Bible.
This 1963 Supreme Court ruling effectively stopped the use of the Bible in schools.
The Courts written explanation of why the Bible had to be removed from the schools was:
"If portions of the New Testament were read without explanation, they could be and...had been psychologically harmful to the child."
This was another example lacking both historical and legal precedent. The court made a new announcement of Policy.
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1965 - Reed vs. Van Hoven: Allowed prayer over lunch in school as long as no one could tell it was a prayer. They couldn't say words or move their lips.
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1967 - DeKalb vs. DeSpain: The court declared a 4-line nursery rhyme unconstitutional.
It had to be removed although the word "God" was never mentioned.
The court explained: "Although the word "God" was not mentioned, if someone were to hear the rhyme he might think it was talking about God."
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1980 - Stone vs. Graham: The Ten Commandments had to be removed from the school walls.
The court said: "If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the school children to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments ... (which) is not a permissible ... objective."
Conclusion: You can't let the students see the Ten Commandments because they may obey them: things like don't steal, don't kill....
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