Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Hedgerow

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
“Separation of Church and State” Is Not in The U.S. Constitution

“Separation of Church and State” Is Not in The U.S. Constitution

Last updated on: January 15, 2020 at 10:19 am by Bethany Blankley

“Separation of Church and State” Is Not in The U.S. Constitution 2020-01-15T10:19:14-05:00 Bethany Blankley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Contrary to popular belief, the phrase “separation of church and state” is not written in the U.S. Constitution.

In fact, not one of the ninety founding fathers stated, argued for or against, or even referred to such a phrase when they debated for months about the specific words to use when writing the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Congressional Records from June 7 to September 25, 1789 reveal that none of these men, including Thomas Jefferson, ever used the phrase, “separation of church and state.”

One advocacy group claims, “courts have said that church-state separation IS found in the U.S. Constitution, and what the Declaration of Independence says or doesn’t say is irrelevant to legal discussions because it’s not a governance document.”

Two of the three parts of this claim are false.

The phrase, “separation of church and state” is not written in either the First or the Fourteenth Amendment. Rather, these amendments explicitly state that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the federal and state governments from nationalizing any religion, from creating a national church, and from favoring one religion over another.

Two clauses comprise the Religious Clause of the First Amendment:

The Establishment Clause: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. . . .”;
The Free Exercise Clause: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”.

The U.S. Supreme Court first cited the phrase, “wall of separation between church and state,” in 1947 Everson v. Board of Educ. of Ewing, 330 U.S. 1, 15-16. Thomas Jefferson wrote about the well-known concept in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association.

While the Supreme Court did rule that a “wall of separation between church and state” exists, they did so based upon seven words from one personal letter rather than the U.S. Constitution. As a result, the Supreme Court created an erroneous precedent, ruling that laws could be created from a personal letter instead of the Constitution.

Even if a letter was a law in the United States, the Supreme Court misinterpreted what Jefferson wrote. It, like most people, make judgments about facts and/or statements by taking a text out of context, thereby redefining the original meaning of the text.

In 1802, Thomas Jefferson and the Baptists were anti-Federalists who supported state’s rights and a limited centralized government. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were instrumental in the passage of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights in 1776 and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786. And both men influenced the framing and ratification of the first ten amendments, The Bill of Rights, in 1791. The impetus for the Establishment Clause, was partly due to the Virginia Statutes, which de-established the Church of England in Virginia, guaranteed freedom of religion to people of all faiths, and spurred other states to reverse laws that had implemented religious requirements.

During this time, the Baptists’ primary concern was if the government granted rights to freely express religious beliefs, it could also regulate or eliminate these rights. Jefferson shared their concern, which is why he referred to “natural rights” in his letter. This phrase was widely understood as a God-given and inherently “inalienable” right that no government could justly supersede.

The Supreme Court appears to have ignored or failed to understand Thomas Jefferson’s meaning within the context of his extensive work: The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, or Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, From the Papers of Thomas Jefferson.

Jefferson made a poignant remark in Notes on the State of Virginia, which clarifies his thinking on the matter:

“And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have lost the only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?”

Why didn’t the Supreme Court choose this text for their ruling? Or his use of “natural rights” in other documents?

It is obvious that from Thomas Jefferson’s compiled work that terms like “fence” or “wall” were used within the context of describing the importance of limited government to prevent its interference with religious activities.

Thomas Jefferson intentionally used the phrases “self-evident truths” and “endowed by our Creator” when he wrote The Declaration of Independence. The founding fathers most certainly considered the Declaration of Independence as a legal document, beginning with: “IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America;” and closing with: “We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled…”

The Declaration of Independence is listed in the first volume of the U.S. Code under the heading Organic Laws of the United States. U.S. Code is the permanent law of the United States. “Organic” is defined as “of, relating to, or constituting the law by which a government or organization exists.”

The Organic Laws are comprised of four laws:

The Declaration of Independence
The Articles of Confederation
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and,
The Constitution.

When a U.S. President, a member of Congress, or a military official is sworn into office they are required to take an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution.

If the Declaration of Independence is really not a governing document, then so also would be Organic Law and the U.S. Constitution.

separation of church and state

Thomas Jefferson

U.S. Constitution

U.S. Supreme Court

Previous Post

June 26, 2014

The Legacy of the Meikleour Beech Hedge

Next Post

July 29, 2014 The U.S. Supreme Court Has Never Defined “Religion”

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Christianity Islam politics Sexuality transgender Uncategorized

Select a Month January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 June 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 July 2016 June 2016 April 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Selah," found often in Psalms, likely mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Forever Sing loudly Give thanks Pause or reflect