Lie number 1, Part a, What the First Amendment says and does not say.
Believers that the constitution provides for a separation of church and state claim the first amendment supports this theory. Does it? The first amendment, a part of the ten amendment Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution states, 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.
What does this amendment really say? First, Congress can not mandate a state religion or church, such as in England, which recognized the Church of England, i.e., The Anglican Church, as official church of the realm. The original passengers of the Mayflower that landed on the shores of Virginia in 1620, came so that they could worship as they pleased, and not be subject to a state church, nor be required to support it in taxes, only to find that the law of the land from 1624 mandated that white Virginians worship in the Anglican church of England) and support its upkeep with their taxes. Source.
The following paragraphs were taken from a web site owned by the Anti-Defamation League under an article titled: Separation of Church and State: A First Amendment Primer (Click here for article).
Public school teachers rightly function as important authority figures in the lives of their students. But, under the Constitution, their authority may not extend to matters of religious belief. According to the Supreme Court, the First Amendment requires that public school students never be given the impression that their school officially sanctions religion in general or prefers a specific faith in particular. Further, students must never feel coerced by peer or public pressure into adhering to the dictates of any religion.
Contrary to the claims of opponents of church-state separation, public school students enjoy very broad rights to act in accordance with their religious values and to practice their religious beliefs while at school. From words of grace whispered quietly before a meal in a cafeteria to prayer groups gathering before school at the flagpole, every day all over the country, students engage in constitutionally protected religious expression on public school grounds. Source.
With respect to the first paragraph, the U.S. Constitution nowhere prohibits teachers or other school officials authority over matters of religious beliefs. Authority includes the power to guarantee students not to be forced by other students or by the authority itself. Matters of religious belief is a broad topic. The second paragraph states, public school students enjoy very broad rights to act in accordance with their religious values and to practice their religious beliefs while at school. Within the past few years, this is no longer true. Students are limited in their free speech concerning their feeling and beliefs in racial, religious, political, and social matters, by what is now termed, as “political correctness.” Students have been expelled for wearing clothing which school officials ‘claim’ offend other students, while allowing Hispanic and other minority students those privileges. Some students at some schools have been stripped or their individual rights to worship contrary to the phrase or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech. As previously stated, this has been accomplished under the false authority of “political correctness.
Part b, to follow shortly.
Separation of church and state is a bedrock principle of our Constitution much like the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances. In the Constitution, the founders did not simply say in so many words that there should be separation of powers and checks and balances; rather, they actually separated the powers of government among three branches and established checks and balances. Similarly, they did not merely say there should be separation of church and state; rather, they actually separated them by (1) establishing a secular government on the power of "We the people" (not a deity), (2) saying nothing to connect that government to god(s) or religion, (3) saying nothing to give that government power over matters of god(s) or religion, and (4), indeed, saying nothing substantive about god(s) or religion at all except in a provision precluding any religious test for public office. Given the norms of the day, the founders' avoidance of any expression in the Constitution suggesting that the government is somehow based on any religious belief was quite a remarkable and plainly intentional choice. They later buttressed this separation of government and religion with the First Amendment, which constrains the government from undertaking to establish religion or prohibit individuals from freely exercising their religions. The basic principle, thus, rests on much more than just the First Amendment.
ReplyDeleteThat the phrase "separation of church and state" does not appear in the text of the Constitution assumes much importance, it seems, to some who may have once labored under the misimpression it was there and, upon learning they were mistaken, reckon they’ve discovered a smoking gun solving a Constitutional mystery. To those familiar with the Constitution, the absence of the metaphor commonly used to name one of its principles is no more consequential than the absence of other phrases (e.g., Bill of Rights, separation of powers, checks and balances, fair trial, religious liberty) used to describe other undoubted Constitutional principles.
To the extent that some nonetheless would like confirmation--in those very words--of the founders' intent to separate government and religion, Madison and Jefferson supplied it. Madison, who had a central role in drafting the Constitution and the First Amendment, confirmed that he understood them to “[s]trongly guard[] . . . the separation between Religion and Government.” Madison, Detached Memoranda (~1820). He made plain, too, that they guarded against more than just laws creating state sponsored churches or imposing a state religion. Mindful that even as new principles are proclaimed, old habits die hard and citizens and politicians could tend to entangle government and religion (e.g., “the appointment of chaplains to the two houses of Congress” and “for the army and navy” and “[r]eligious proclamations by the Executive recommending thanksgivings and fasts”), he considered the question whether these actions were “consistent with the Constitution, and with the pure principle of religious freedom” and responded: “In strictness the answer on both points must be in the negative. The Constitution of the United States forbids everything like an establishment of a national religion.”
Doug, thanks for dropping by. I agree in principle with your comment. But, I am going to explain where the problem lies. Those who teach 'separation between church and state,' want NO Christian influence in government. This is not what the constitution states. I will continued this series and will explain in more detail.
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