Why do people appeal to the "Separation of Church & State" when there is Nothing like that in U.S. Law?

Question

Read the Constitution, the Ammendments, and the complete body of U.S. Law. There is no such thing as a "Separation of Church & State", only a "Non-Establishment" clause that is to protect religion from the government.

Why do so few people (even lawyers) understand this?

Answer 1

Absolutely! The non-establishment clause states "[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."

In other words, unlike England, the U.S. was not to have an "official" (government-sponsored) religion. Instead, each citizen is free to pursue the religion of their choice.

So, whenever another CITIZEN brings up a religious or spiritual topic anywhere (school, work, etc.), this prohibition does not apply since that CITIZEN cannot be empowered by any legal, government-sponsored legislation to forcibly engage anyone in religious practice. It is simply that CITIZEN's "free exercise" of their chosen religion.

Answer 2

"Religious liberty" and "right to a fair trial" don't appear in the constitution either. Are you suggesting they aren't constitutional rights??

There is nothing there about a "fair trial," but what should be clear is that the 6th Amendment is setting up the conditions for fair trials: public, speedy, impartial juries, information about the crimes and laws, etc. The Constitution does not specifically say that you have a right to a fair trial, but the rights created only make sense on the premise that a right to a fair trial exists. Thus, if the government found a way to fulfill all of the above obligations while also making a trial unfair, the courts would hold those actions to be unconstitutional.

Similarly, courts have found that the principle of a "religious liberty" exists behind in the First Amendment, even if those words are not actually there:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

The point of such an amendment is twofold. First, it ensures that religious beliefs - private or organized - are removed from attempted government control. This is the reason why the government cannot tell either you or your church what to believe or to teach. Second, it ensures that the government does not get involved with enforcing, mandating, or promoting particular religious doctrines. This is what happens when the government "establishes" a church - and because doing so created so many problems in Europe, the authors of the Constitution wanted to try and prevent the same from happening here.

Can anyone deny that the First Amendment guarantees the principle of religious liberty, even though those words do not appear there? Similarly, the First Amendment guarantees the principle of the separation of church and state - by implication, because separating church and state is what allows religious liberty to exist.

Answer 3

The 1st Amendment to the constitution.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter "Seperation of Church & State". This actually protects Americans from having an anitchrist making laws and getting paid for it.

Right now President Bush proclaims January 16 to Religious Freedom day. Because of what Thomas Jefferson wrote about religious freedom on January 16, 1786.

Answer 4

Gosh, I wonder...can you read? Or do you just not have a copy? Because that clause prohibits the establishment of a religion, which in 18th century language means that you can't have an established church like England. Which also would make it difficult to explain why the government would do something like make children pray to Jesus or put the Ten Commandments on the front lawn of their buildings.

Allow me to go get my handy dandy U.S. constitution just to prove it:

Amendment I

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.

Answer 5

The constititution does address religion and state in the 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."
This has been interpreted by the supreme court to be "Separation of church and State activities".

Answer 6

There is no mention of the Separation of Church and State in the Constitution. That is correct.

However, you misunderstand the establishment clause. It states that congress will not establish a state religion. That not only protects religion from the government, but it protects all of us as individuals from having to conform to a state-mandated religion.

Separation of Church and State has a long legal tradition. In terms of US history, I believe the term was first used by Thomas Jefferson (Who, btw, published a copy of the New Testament from which he removed all references to Jesus' miracles and divinity, leaving only moral teachings). Check the Church and State article on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state

Answer 7

The phrase "separation of church and state" originated from a letter written by 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."

Another early user of the term was James Madison, the principal drafter of the United States Bill of Rights, who often wrote of "total separation of the church from the state" (1819 letter to Robert Walsh). "Strongly guarded . . . is the separation between religion and government in the Constitution of the United States," Madison wrote, and he declared, "practical distinction between Religion and Civil Government is essential to the purity of both, and as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States" (1811 letter to Baptist Churches). This attitude is further reflected in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which was originally authored by Thomas Jefferson, but championed by Madison. The Declaration guarantees that no one may be compelled to finance any religion or denomination.

Answer 8

Why can't you understand simple English? The "non-establishment clause" of the First Amendment does not "protect religion." It defends us against the establishment of a state religion or state supported religion.

Read a little Colonial history and the writings of the founders and it will all make sense.

.

Answer 9

We need a separation of church and state because there are a lot of people who are not christian and we should not have your religion forced on us as it is against our constitutional right (freedom of religion comes with the right not to worship a religion).

Answer 10

The constitution says that the Government will not interfere with the practice of Religion.

A lot of people take that to meant that there is a separation of Church and State, but that doesn't come from the constitution, it comes from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson. That letter was never enacted to become law.

Ever since, the "separation of church and state" letter has become the rallying cry for people to restrict religious freedoms and become a smoke screen for what's really in the constitution.