U.S. Constitution?

Question

Can someone please tell me where in the U.S. Constitution it says anything about seperation of church and state. I can't find that quote. I'm not tring to start any religious arguarement, I just want to read that phrase in the U.S. Constitution.

Answer 1

It does not say those words. What it does say is as follows:

"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."

You can interperate that however you would like, in my opinion all it means is the State will not have a set religion.

Answer 2

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

In other words, Congress can't pass a law based on religion (the church can't influence the state) and they can't prevent you from going to the church of your choice (the state can't influence the church).

You can call that whatever you want to, but I consider it to be a form of separation and it's even more beneficial to the church than it is to the state so you should stop fighting it and recognize that it's for the sake of your freedom of religion. The alternative is a theocracy like the Church of England, which some of the founding fathers had recently escaped when they drafted the Constitution. They detested living in a country where the King had more influence on the Church than the Pope, and dissenters were put to death by hanging, drawing and quartering, so they wanted to make sure the USA would not fall victim to the same kind of tyranny.

[edit]
I added a link to an article about hanging, drawing, and quartering to help you appreciate just how barbaric a theocracy can become. Some of you may point out that this was the punishment for high treason, but when the church and state are one and the same, having different religious beliefs IS "high treason". Thomas More was just one of many religious men executed for having religious differences with the King (More still believed that the Pope should be the final authority on religious matters), but he was lucky enough to have his sentence commuted to a simple beheading because he and the King were old friends. Is that the kind of country you would want to live in? If not, be thankful for the First Amendment!

Answer 3

The phrase originated in a letter that Thomas Jefferson sent to a group of Baptist in Danbury, Connecticet in 1802. Jefferson had committed himself as President to pursuing the purpose of the First Amendment: preventing the "establishment of a particular form of Christianity" by the Episcopalians, Congregationalists, or any other denomination.

Later, the phrase was used again 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 "separation of church and state" phrase which they invoked, and which has today become so familiar, was taken from an exchange of letters between President Thomas Jefferson and the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut, shortly after Jefferson became President.

The Founding Fathers never used the term "seperation."

Answer 4

It isn't.

But neither is personal privacy, Miranda rights, abortion, or definition of marriage.

The Consitution is a blueprint for HOW the government is supposed to work.
The Bill of Rights was added because some of the FFathers thought that simply saying "any power not delegated to the govt can't be wielded by it" wasn't enough, so they listed things the govt specifically CANNOT do.

Answer 5

That exact line is not in the constitution or the first amendment.

The phrase "separation of church and state" is derived from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 to a group identifying themselves as the Danbury Baptists. In that letter, referencing the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, Jefferson writes:

"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, & 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 & State." [7]

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." [8] "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." [9] This attitude is further reflected in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, originally authored by Thomas Jefferson, but championed by Madison, and guaranteeing that no one may be compelled to finance any religion or denomination.

... no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities. [10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seperation_of_church_and_state#Modern

Answer 6

The Supreme Court of the United States is clearly mentioned in the constitution as having the sole power to interpret the constitution...the Supreme court has interpretted that the constitution includes that seperation....therefor it exists

Answer 7

1st amendment loosely interpreted is where the left is coming up with this argument:

"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 8

This is an example of the power of the Supreme Court.

Earlier in our history, a left leaning group of judges in the SC ruled that the first amendment says that.

I, and many other like me, don't read it that way. To me it says the government will not have an official religion. AND, I am free to exercise my religion anywhere in PUBLIC I want. ANYWHERE.

Answer 9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state

Answer 10

It's not in there!