What does the U.S. Constitution say about the separation of Church and State?

Question

There seems to be lot of confusion on this in R&S so I thought I'd ask to see what people think.

Answer 1

The separation of church and state is a legal and political principle derived from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ." The phrase separation of church and state is generally traced to an 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists, where Jefferson spoke of the combined effect of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. In that letter Jefferson wrote, "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." The phrase "separation of church and state" itself does not appear in the Constitution, but it has been quoted in several opinions handed down by the United States Supreme Court.

Answer 2

The expression "separation of church and state" is not part of the Constitution. However, the First Amendment's effect is the separation of church and state. The expression was used in the discussions and letters that took place while the Constitution was being written, and it is clear that the "wall of separation" was intended by the framers.

Remember that, according to the Constitution, it is interpreted by the Supreme Court. So when you look at the First Amendment, you have to remember that the rulings of the Supreme Court over the years are what tells us what the First Amendment really means. This is because there's a lot of places where it takes some careful analysis to decide just how to apply a given law. We can write a law in a few words, but applying it with justice and fairness is an ongoing process.

Answer 3

To one of the people that answered. The framers of the constitution were by and large not Christians.They were deists, agnostics, and atheists. Even Thomas Jefferson. Look up the Jefferson bible on the Internet. It's interesting what he did to it. This country was founded on strict secular principles. The idea was to keep church and state separate. It was a good idea then and still is. If you think these so called right wing Christians actually support some kind of correct thinking ethic, you had better think again. Any right thinking man or woman is either a liar or mentally deluded that believes that crap. It completely falls apart with even cursory scrutiny. In the case of politicians, I think they're mostly just dirty hearted two faced liars, the rest are into your purse or brainwashed and incapable of honest assessment. Still, I limit my criticism to that. Each to his own as the first amendment clearly points out.

Answer 4

The Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of religion. Section 2 of the Charter of Rights in Canada does the same. It is true, the phrase "separation of church and state" does not actually appear anywhere in the Constitution. There is a problem, however, in that some people draw incorrect conclusions from this fact. The absence of this phrase does not mean that it is an invalid concept or that it cannot be used as a legal or judicial principle.

Answer 5

Article Six: There shall be no religious test required to hold public office.

First Amendment: Congress shall make no law regarding establishment of religion.

The key to the First Amendment is the missing preoposition "a", as in "a religion". By omitting that, the founders covered all the bases. Religion, period, is not part of government. Jefferson makes this clear in his letter to the Danbury Baptists, who were frightened they'd be over run by the larger Congregationalist Church.

It is further underscored in Article 11 of the Treaty With Tripoli, which clearly states the USA is not founded upon Christian principles. The treaty passed the senate by a unanimous vote, and was signed into law by President Adams in 1797.

That's not to imply Christian revisionists won't glance right past this and use the Mayflower Compact as a founding document, a failed charter when we were still a part of Great Britain.

Answer 6

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment refers to the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...." Together with the Free Exercise Clause, ("...or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"), these two clauses make up what are commonly known as the "religion clauses" of the First Amendment.

Answer 7

The Constitution says absolutely nothing about the separation of church and state. That term appears nowhere in the Constitution.

The Constitution simply prevents the federal government from establishing a single state religion, such as Catholicism or Lutheranism or Presbyterianism or whatever.

It also guarantees freedom of religion, which the secularists often forget.

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Answer 8

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" The phrase 'building a wall of separation between church and state' was written by Thomas Jefferson in a January 1, 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association.

Answer 9

It doesn't use that phrase but the establishment clause says: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

This prevents any particular religion getting preferential treatment and since the only way to prevent that is to keep religion out of government that creates a separation of church and state.

Answer 10

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

The supreme court was the first to officially in lawfully binding document use the phrase "separation of church and state" in 1878 (Reynolds v. US).

Basically, the ruling is that the government can neither enforce nor deny religious rights within the bounds of nonsecular human decency (ie child bride cults would still be unlawful regardless of religion).