Church / State Separation Articles
The Faith of the Founding Fathers
...[N]ot everyone who lived during the Founding era was a “Founding Father”; so not all voices are equal as evidence.
...[T]he Puritans did not found America – they founded Massachusetts. There is no reason to elevate their views or experience above those of other colonies; the Founders themselves did not give Massachusetts or its representatives preeminence philosophically or politically.
...[S]ome of the more prominent Founders meant something different by the word “Christianity” than do 21st-century evangelical Christians.... [L]ike today, denominational labels were not very accurate determinants of personal belief in 18th-century America.
... Christianity and deism were not the only two religious options available to 18th-century Americans... In reality, a number of the key American Founders were neither Christians nor deists, but theistic rationalists. Theistic rationalists believed in a powerful, rational, and benevolent creator God who was present and active in human affairs. They believed that the main factor in serving God was living a good and moral life, that promoting morality was the central value and purpose of religion, and that religion was indispensable to society because it engendered morality. They believed that virtually all religions fulfilled that purpose – not just Christianity. That is why they allowed freedom of religion.
Theistic rationalists rejected most of the fundamental doctrines of biblical Christianity, including: the deity of Christ, the Trinity, original sin, the atoning work of Christ, justification by faith, eternal punishment for sin, and the inspiration of Scripture.
Source:
"The Faith of the Founding Fathers"
The Masters University
By: Dr. Gregg Frazer, Professor of History & Political Studies
The Declaration of Independence
In the Declaration there are three references to God, and each one is different. In one reference, Jefferson uses the term "Nature's God." Later, he uses "Creator" and lastly "Divine Providence." Many scholars have debated on how to interpret his use of these terms. Some disagree about how church and state were viewed during the founding of our nation. One fact is for sure — the authors of the Declaration were very aware of different religious beliefs, including those of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, and American Indian belief systems.
Source:
USHistory.com
James Madison and the First Amendment
First Amendment.
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.
James Madison.
James Madison is one of the Founding Fathers and is also nicknamed "the father of the Constitution." While he is the one who wrote the Bill of Rights, and thus the First Amendment, he wasn't alone in coming up with these ideas, nor did they happen overnight.
Madison was a proponent of the separation of church and state, and this is probably what translated into the first part of the Amendment. We also know that Jefferson—Madison's influence—was a strong believer of a person having the right to choose their faith, as to him religion was "a matter which [lied] solely between Man and his God."
The U.S. government cannot establish a certain religion for all its citizens. U.S. citizens have the right to choose and practice what faith they want to follow, as long as their practice doesn't break any laws.
Source: Head, Tom. "James Madison and the First Amendment." ThoughtCo, Oct. 11, 2021, thoughtco.com/who-wrote-the-first-amendment-721180.
The Separation of Church and State in the United States
Separation of church and state has long been viewed as a cornerstone of American democracy. At the same time, the concept has remained highly controversial in the popular culture and law. Much of the debate over the application and meaning of the phrase focuses on its historical antecedents. This article briefly examines the historical origins of the concept and its subsequent evolution during the nineteenth century.
Source:
Oxford Research Encyclopedias/American History
Steven K. Green; Published online: 02 December 2014
10 facts about religion and government in the United States
Research on religion in the US dated 2022. Article date July 5, 2022.
Source: Pew Research
By Rebecca Leppert and Dalia Fahmy
Full article web address: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/07/05/10-facts-about-religion-and-government-in-the-united-states/
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that the country shall have no official religion, and Americans have been debating where to draw the line between religion and government since the country’s founding. The debate recently resurfaced with three new Supreme Court rulings over religious symbols on public property, prayer in public schools and state subsidies for religious schools.
Pew Research Center surveys in recent years have shown that far more Americans support than oppose the separation of church and state. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults (73%) say religion should be kept separate from government policies, according to a survey conducted in spring 2022. Just 25% say government policies should support religious values and beliefs. While majorities of both Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (84%) and Republicans and Republican leaners (61%) say religion should be kept separate from government policies, Republicans are far more likely to say government should support religious values (38% vs. 16%).
Article web address: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/07/05/10-facts-about-religion-and-government-in-the-united-states/
People & Ideas: God and the Constitution
Summary:
Among the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 were George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison -- men whom history would one day acknowledge as the Founding Fathers. Some had turned away from orthodox Christianity to embrace Unitarianism or Deism, liberal strains of Christianity that stressed reason and free inquiry over revelation. Others adhered to more traditional forms of the religion.
Despite individual differences, these men professed a belief in God as the Creator of the universe and believed that religion encouraged a moral citizenry, which they deemed essential to the success of the new republic. Yet they were keenly aware that European history demonstrated the power of religion to spawn sectarian strife and violence.
The delegates agreed that the federal government should be kept out of religion. Some, like Madison, favored a complete separation of church and state at the federal and the state level. Others wanted to permit the individual states to support established churches if they so chose. Both groups were reluctant to make explicit references to God in the nation's founding document.
After the draft of the Constitution was approved in Philadelphia, it went to the states for ratification. Many Americans were shocked that the document did not acknowledge the divine Creator. Thomas Jefferson...also believed that a written guarantee of liberty was essential.
Madison, architect of the Constitution, thought that such a guarantee was unnecessary. Jefferson encouraged Madison to reconsider his position. Madison was a practical man. He recognized that the absence of a written guarantee imperiled the Constitution's ratification and threatened the viability of the new republic.
With Madison's guidance, the First Congress approved the First Amendment to the Constitution that begins: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
Source:
PBS.org; Library of Congress – God and the Constitution