Our Forefathers thoughts on the separation of Church an State?

Question

I believe they wanted Freedom of religion, not complete removal of religion from the Government

The bible is the foundation on which our Republic rests
Andrew Jackson
It is impossible to rightly govern without the Bible
George Washington
Men must be Governed by God or they will be ruled by Tyrants
WIlliam Penn
The bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed
Patrict Henry
Whatever make s men good christians, makes them good citizens Daniel Webster
The principle support of virtue, norality and civil liberty
Benjamin Franklin

Thrag- Iran has a state controlled religion in which you believe or suffer prison or die. Not the same, thats what the forefathers did not want

Have read the Federalist papers. No one wants a state sponsored religion or church, including me. But they would have allowed the ten commandments in the courtroom also. And they opened their sessions with a prayer also. Plus your time line on the bibles writing is way off. It has only been two thousand years since the life of Jesus. And the Dead Sea Scrolls go back many thousands of years. Atheism is the death of hope and the suicide of the soul

Answer 1

What the forefathers wanted was an escape from the English system, in which the King was also head of the Anglican Church. This made the Anglican Church the defacto state religion and led to hostilities between Catholics, other Protestants, and those that are Jewish and Islamic. The forefathers felt that a politically-mandated state religion defeats the idea of democracy; in order to truly be free of tyranny, one must be free to worship as he/she please. Protection from religious tyranny is one of the original principles the colonies were found on at the time of the Puritan's and Pilgrims' landing.

Religion is very important to how the government works and how the government sees it people; however, the government has nothing to do with the distribution of religion. There are no state operated churches, no religious figures appointed to government, no undue pressure in any significant way. Even though the President "flexed" the law by specifically focusing on faith-based charities, even this is not a violation of the church-state division because "the church" is given no real political power or access in the process.

I hope that helps.

Answer 2

Read the federalist papers! The forefathers CLEARLY did not want religion involved in government, though they also made it clear that government could not interfere with religion!

Many people came here because they were persecuted by state sponsored religion!

God can have his laws, we can have ours. No one agrees even with what the Bible says as it is translated and written thousands of years after the death of Christ!

You go to church! There you can practice what you want! Don't bring your church to me because I don't want anything to do with it, or what you believe!

Answer 3

Thomas Jefferson to a group identifying themselves as the Danbury Baptists. In that letter, quoting the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, he writes: "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church and State." Letter to Danbury Baptists (1802).

James Madison, the principal drafter of the Bill of Rights, often wrote of "total separation of the church from the state" (1819 letter to Walsh); "Strongly guarded . . . is the separation between religion and government in the Constitution of the United States.", and he declared "practical distinction between Religion and Civil Government as essential to the purity of both, and as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States" (1811 letter to Baptist Churches). Ulysses S. Grant also called for Americans to "Keep the church and state forever separate."

Answer 4

"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. "

The Framers of the Constitution apparently could not conceive of the Supreme Court usurping the prerogatives of the Congress to establish Atheism as the Religion of State

Answer 5

Political quotes. A lot of the first immigrants here came to escape religious persecution. Look at Iran, church & state are mingled there....

Answer 6

No one knows exaclty what they wanted because they didn't specifically say as far as prayer in schools, etc. We can only read what they wrote and interpret.

Answer 7

and where dose it say that