| To the Editor: More on 'separation of church and state' |
| Written by Chris Jackson |
| Wednesday, 11 July 2012 09:14 |
|
I write in response to the 7/5/12 letter of Gerry A. Troyer regarding First Amendment rights and the "separation of church and state". He wrote criticizing a letter from Lloyd Jones that asked that elected officials avoid 'National Day of Prayer' activities. His position is based on the view that the actual words "separation of church and state" are not in the First Amendment. It is true that the literal phrase "separation of church and state" does not appear in the Constitution, but that does not mean that the concept isn't there. The First Amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…." What does that mean? In an 1802 letter to the Danbury (Conn.) Baptist Association, Thomas Jefferson, then president, declared that the American people through the First Amendment had erected a "wall of separation between church and state." Jefferson, however, was not the only leading figure of the post-revolutionary period to use the term separation. James Madison, considered to be the Father of the Constitution, said in an 1819 letter, "The number, the industry and the morality of the priesthood and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the state." As church-state scholar Leo Pfeffer notes in his book, Church, State, and Freedom, "It is true, of course, that the phrase 'separation of church and state' does not appear in the Constitution. But it was inevitable that some convenient term should come into existence to verbalize a principle so clearly and widely held by the American people. The right to a fair trial is generally accepted to be a constitutional principle; yet the term 'fair trial' is not found in the Constitution. To bring the point even closer to home, who would deny that 'religious liberty' is a constitutional principle? Yet that phrase too is not in the Constitution. The universal acceptance of all these terms, including 'separation of church and state,' have received in America would seem to confirm rather than disparage their reality as basic American democratic principles." Thus, it is entirely appropriate to speak of the 'constitutional principle of church and state separation' since that phrase summarizes what the First Amendment's religion clauses do - they separate church and state. Our local elected officials should respect this separation and not participate in these religious activities. Chris Jackson Bowling Green |
Front Page Stories
| Photographer finds picture perfect career 05/18/2013 | JACK CARLE Sentinel Sports Editor  Elizabeth Lee. (Photo: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune) A passion for photography ha [ ... ] |
Pemberville woman fights incurable disease 05/18/2013 | PETER KUEBECK Sentinel Staff Writer  Karen Williams talks about scleroderma with her husband Charles at their home in Pemberv [ ... ] | Other Front Page Articles | ||
Comments
The conclusion he comes to that elected officials should not participate in an event like the National Day of Prayer is not based on an understanding of the concept in the context of the time it was penned by Jefferson.
If you look at the time in which these words were penned, you will note that contemporaries of Jefferson often called for prayer. The First Continental Congress in 1775 called for a National Day of Prayer. A good source for other quotes: http://www.call2fall.com/classicquotes - the context of the time does not lend itself to Chris's interpretation of what our Founding Father's meant by this phrase/thought. Thank you.
With the wisdom from understanding the causes of Jeffersons letters, you will be able to decide what truly is meant by "a wall of separation".
The founding "fathers" are not necessarily legitimate authorities on ethical principles anyhow.
The Teapublicans are in possession of divine truth, so we might as well all give it up and bow.
no obama is for abortion same as murder,christia ns do not do that.
Why does the Tea Party have such difficulty with spelling?
In fact, both Presidents Obama and G.W. Bush handled their National Prayer Service duties with humility and honesty, because they understood the need to speak thoughtfully in their own words but in keeping with their responsibility to speak to all people of all faiths. It's that concept that the local troglodytes find so offensive.
I don't make any special claims to wisdom, but you have clearly gotten through life without knowing the difference between sense and nonsense, and without feeling any need to be well-informed. Your only tool of argument is making fun of other people. And threatening some vague tea party revenge.
RSS feed for comments to this post.