The following is an essay I did on the 1st Amendment for my government class. Some Christians say that it is wrong for us to involve religion with politics or government but I strongly disagree. We as Christians must be able to stand firm on the Word of God and from the Word of God stand firm on our political beliefs, enjoy:
Now those who have had any kind of interest in the First Amendment to the Constitution know that in my title there is something wrong. You’d be very correct. The actual amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit 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.” Now all I would like to focus on today is the first sixteen words of this amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof.” I underlined the word “of” because that is a word that I believe makes a big difference in the meaning of this amendment. It is from this amendment that we get what are called the “Establishment Clause” and the “Free-exercise Clause”. Meaning government will not establish any national “church” or “religion” and the American people have the freedom to worship how they want as long as it remains legal. The reason I put the word “from” in my title was because that is the way the government and the American people as of late have interpreted this amendment that we are to have a freedom “from” religion not “of” religion. In this essay I hope not only to state what I believe but to factually prove that we have misinterpreted the first sixteen words of the First Amendment since 1947.
What happened in 1947? In 1947 was when the phrase “separation of Church and State” was reborn. In this case Emerson v. Board of Education, the plaintiff was bringing charges against a school board in New Jersey about kids going to a Catholic school and getting public transportation. A New Jersey court ruled in favor of Emerson but the Supreme Court ruled against him citing that it was not a violation against the 1st Amendment because it was for the education of kids. This mindset of “a wall of separation of church and state” came from an 1802 letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists. The Danbury Baptists were a group of Baptists churches in Danbury, CT and were worried that at some point in time a “national” denomination would be brought forth. In this point and time in the early 1800’s the Baptist denomination was in the minority and was in ways persecuted by the other churches. These particular Baptists in Danbury took action and wrote a letter the highest man in the land, President Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson reassured them that under the First Amendment they had “a wall of separation between Church and State”. This personal letter to the Baptists of Danbury, CT that had been virtually forgotten until 1947 has brought about a nation that actually thinks that the words “separation of church and state” are in the First Amendment and that we are to be free “from” religion.
In 1962 the issue of school prayer came into being with the court case Engal v. Vitale. In this case the court ruled that any faculty and student in the school could pray to whom they wish but they could not lead anyone in prayer in a public school setting. The court determined it unconstitutional for schools to have an “official prayer”. The following was an example of a prayer from the New York Board of Regents that was ruled unconstitutional, “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country”. Regarding this particular prayer the court stated, “The petitioners contend, among other things, that the state laws requiring or permitting use of the Regents' prayer must be struck down as a violation of the Establishment Clause because that prayer was composed by governmental officials as a part of a governmental program to further religious beliefs. For this reason, petitioners argue, the State's use of the Regents' prayer in its public school system breaches the constitutional wall of separation between Church and State.* We agree with that contention, since we think that the constitutional prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion must at least mean that, in this country, it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government. (*emphasis mine). Right there that statement that this prayer “breaches the constitutional wall of separation of church and state” is completely false because “a wall of separation of church and state” is not constitutional, it can’t be found anywhere in the constitution. This was the first time that the court ruled upon its own thoughts and opinions and looked for no precedents on this case, can you name another time in American history when the Courts took the words of one forefather from a private personal letter to a Baptist association? They made a precedent. From this came what we call the Lemon Test. Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) the Court gave these criteria’s for establishment clause cases, 1) the law must have been adopted with a secular or non-religious, 2. The law’s primary effect must be neutral toward religion and not advance nor inhibit it, and 3. The law must not foster an excessive entanglement of government and religion. This is now the precedent for cases regarding the establishment clause. What precedent did our forefathers have regarding the First Amendment? Our forefathers were men that dedicated their every being to this country and they did not do anything half heartedly, including the Bill of Rights.
Our forefathers came to this land to free themselves from the tyranny of the King of England and the oppressive Anglican Church. In England they had a “national church” or denomination and that is how our great nation got started. We have the Puritans who wanted to purify the Church of England and the Separatists who wanted nothing to do with the church. These were the two main groups that made up what we know of as the pilgrims. Now these men and women came here for no other reason than freedom to worship God as they felt the Bible instructed them too not the King. These were Christian men and women who wanted to start a Christian land. One of the great forefathers Patrick Henry said, “It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!” This country was founded for no other reason than to worship Jesus Christ. The second President of the United States, John Adams, said the following about the constitution, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” The writers of the constitution did not write it to govern a country of God- hating idiots but God fearing men and women that would raise their children according to those very standards! George Washington said while talking to the Delaware Indians chief regarding putting the Indian kids in the school system, “You do well to wish to learn our arts and our ways of life and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.” The most important thing to Washington in the teaching of the Delaware Indian children was that they would learn the religion of Jesus Christ! Our forefathers set precedents to be followed and we have disgraced them by going with tolerance over truth and we are simply destroying America generation by generation. Now obviously not all the founding fathers were Christian. Of course you had the atheist in James Madison, the agnostic in Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin but even these men who are touted to be strong institutors of “separation of church and state” were not against a Christian government. Yes they did not want the church to become equal and oppressive like in England but with Christian teaching comes Christian morals, something we largely lack today.
Our society has been hurt by the mindset of being free “from” religion. The first Amendment to the Constitution was drafted five times before the final copy and in each one the word “religion” is not there but “denomination”. When the Bill of Rights was being written the words “religion” and “denomination” went hand in hand. It was largely assumed by our forefathers that we would remain a Christian nation and not stray so far from the Bible and its teachings. Now though we are stuck in a society and a generation that strives on rebellion and immorality. A society hooked on things, a society that wants to eat and not work. A society that believes we are to be free from religion and God. As citizens it is our obligation and our duty to our government to return to the mindset and the intentions of our forefathers. I believe John Adams said it best, “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.” It’s up to us whether or not America commits suicide on our watch, let’s not let that happen.
