Can anyone find Separation of Church and State in the Constitution?

Question

[Here's a hint - it's not there.]

The 1st amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

It says nothing about the government not allowing religion to be present in public schools, public hearing or any other government sponsored place or event. It simply states that they cannot declare an official religion or stop anyone from practicing their religion.

Answer 1

While you are correct that the phrase "Separation of church and state" does not appear in the Constitution, many believe it is implied. The letter Jefferson wrote which you mention was the one to the Danbury (Baptist) Church Association in 1802. In this letter, he interprets the first amendment as "thus building a wall of separation between church and state."
The oddity of the modern argument is that the intent of the first amendment's purpose was to ensure that religion within the government did not interfere with the private practice of the individual. The history of early Virginia will bear out that the state required a tax from all citizens to support the Anglican Church: hence, one had to meet Anglican standards or do without. Similar situations existed in many other states in similar ways. Several state constitutions had already written barriers against such an imposition.
However the phrase was resurrected in modern times. In 1947, in the case Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court declared, “The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach.” The case itself makes for interesting reading.
However, before the atheists may gloat so overwhelmingly, we should recall that it was Ben Franklin who requested prayer at the Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787. His words are some to which we should pay more attention than the rabid dogs of secularism would allow: "And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance?" He was referring to the Revolutionary War and how the convention, then deadlocked, had prayed in their hour of need. He then suggested that a chaplain lead them in prayer at the beginning of their meetings, which they approved. These same men provided for chaplains for Congress.
The point is that these same men formed the foundation for the Constitution some years later. They fully intended that God be the guiding light for this nation. They knew what would happen to us should we have the audacity to depart from belief in Him.

Answer 2

Why do you think "no law respecting an establishment of religion" allows the government to sponsor a particular religion in school, or anywhere else?

The literal phrasing isn't in the Constitution because the concept was so obvious to the Founders (and anyone else who has studied Constitutional law in depth) that it went without saying. But it's nothing new to Constitutional scholars. The phrase was first adopted by the Supreme Court in 1878, who credit it to Thomas Jefferson as the originator of the quote. According to the Court, the phrase should be taken as "an authoritative declaration of the scope and effect of the [1st] amendment thus secured." Reynolds v. U.S., 98 U.S. 145 (1878).

It's been US doctrine for almost 130 years, and was referred to in 1943 as "our accepted belief" and "cardinal in the history of this nation and for the liberty of our people". West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943).

And for those who keep arguing that the country was founded by and for Christians, the words of the Treaty of Tripoli (1796) directly contradict that claim. As if it weren't enough that most of the Founders were Deists, not Christians, and that the word "God" doesn't appear anywhere in the Constitution. Just a handful of years after the Constitution was written, Congress said that "the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion". (Article 11 of the Treaty).

This is a secular -- not religious -- nation. The Founders said it. The Constitution says it. Congress repeatedly said it. The Supreme Court has confirmed it. And all of them have said it since the beginning. So those who missed it must not have been paying attention.

Answer 3

That phrase is not in the Constitution. It does say that a religion cannot be established. Some attorney may try and make a case for it but the phrase, "...separation of church and state", is not in the Constitution and certainly not in the First Amendment. The established religion phrase has been thoroughly ignored by those who want everyone to believe the Constitution provides for a separation of church and state vice not establishing a religion.

Answer 4

Congress shall make no law establishing the establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

We definitely need the separation if we never had it before. There are a lot of overzealous psychos out there..... But yes, Jefferson did declare there was one, even if the actual words were not in the Constitution.

Answer 5

The fact that the words "Separation of Church and State" do not appear in the text of the Constitution is not a reason to say that it was not at all any part of the intended meaning of the first clause of the First Amendment. Interpretting law is not about always taking literally whatever you see. Interpretting law is also about looking at "legislative history" and looking at interpretations made in the past by courts of law.

I'm not saying this because I like or agree with what the liberals have done with their "interpretation" of Establishment Clause. I mostly disagree. But I do believe that the expression "a wall of separation between church and state" is at least partly useful in determining the meaning of the Establishment Clause. I simply interpret the "separation" phrase much more narrowly than do the liberals.

Answer 6

Do you not understand by putting religion in schools (Christianity), which are government funded that's like saying that your allowed to practice what ever religion you want as long as its Christianity. Why do you people insist on trying to force your beliefs on others? How would you feel if Islam was established as our national religion, and your kid went to school every day and had to start the day by bowing to mecca? Religion is best kept out of government and government funded programs, Its just good common sense.

Answer 7

Looks like Phil got it wrong. I'd like to see him try and explain why the very first Congress opened with hours of prayer to God for guidance. Same for the Supreme Court. And have ever since.

Phil seems to have succumbed to the Leftist/ACLU distortion. What the First Amendment says is that Government cannot INTERFERE with free religious expression. Even in the halls of government. That's the what 'separation of church and state' has meant ever since our nation was created.

If you doubt this, try and rationalize why the first Congress instructed the first President, George Washington, to create a national day of prayer. The founders were there to see it happen. It was okay by them because Government was not INTERFERING with free religious expression but embracing it, as the First Amendment spells out.

Answer 8

WRONG. It is there.

Amendment 1 of the Bill of Rights, clearly establishes a seperation of church and state. The whole idea of seperation of church and state means that the state,(government) will not establish a state religion, nor will they promote through governmental action, one faith over another. This was to counter what many felt was a heavy-handed approach of the British (and some of the early colonies) which adopted the Anglican (and in some cases, the Puritan churches) as their official faiths.

Those who try and claim that there is no constitutional seperation of church and state are usually trying to find an excuse to bring back prayer in schools and such other forms of sectarian problems. Prayer in schools is perfectly legal.. in a private school which does not obtain its funding from the government.

Answer 9

[Here's a hint:] Read things before you ask questions about it. Look at a copy of the actual constitution, don't just read articles from people claiming that it is not there. You can't always take others words and believe them. Take the time to read the constitution if you are that interested in this subject.

Answer 10

It is in a lot of other places like US Supreme Court decisions!

Mr. President

To messers Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut.

Gentlemen

The affectionate sentiments of esteem & approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful & zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, and in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more & more pleasing.

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, 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. [Congress thus inhibited from acts respecting religion, and the Executive authorised only to execute their acts, I have refrained from presenting even occasional performances of devotion presented indeed legally where an Executive is the legal head of a national church, but subject here, as religious exercises only to the voluntary regulations and discipline of each respective sect.] Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.

I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection and blessing of the common Father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves and your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem.

(signed) Thomas Jefferson
Jan.1.1802.

Here is one who is clueless and mindless! No wonder their are so many on the right side that have no clue! Wasn't Thomas Jefferson a "Founding Father"?

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris told a religious journal that separation of church and state is "a lie" and God and the nation's founding fathers did not intend the country be "a nation of secular laws."

The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate also said that if Christians are not elected, politicians will "legislate sin," including abortion and gay marriage.

Harris made the comments -- which she clarified Saturday -- in the Florida Baptist Witness, the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention, which interviewed political candidates and asked them about religion and their positions on issues.

Separation of church and state is "a lie we have been told," Harris said in the interview, published Thursday, saying separating religion and politics is "wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers."