A recent article in the faith section of the Tribune attempted to support the so-called wall of separation between church and state. The writer used his free speech rights granted by Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution to defend this view.
However, before Article 1 granted freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right of the people to assemble peaceably, it granted the most preeminent right to Americans. It states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Freedom of worship and free exercise of religion was guaranteed protection from an abusive and controlling government.
Our Founding Fathers came from different branches of Christianity, and had experienced the difficulties of state-run religion. However, they were united in a common faith, and wanted to nurture Christian faith at a national level. This law and Thomas Jefferson’s subsequent letter to the Danbury Baptist Association which mentioned the “wall of separation” supported this fact.
During this era the Continental Congress ordered and paid for 20,000 Bibles for the American people. Thomas Jefferson chaired the District of Columbia school board (which used the Bible and the Isaac Watts Hymnal as curriculum). He also chaired the American Bible Society. Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, organized America’s first public schools and used the Bible as their curriculum. Benjamin Franklin who has been characterized as notoriously agnostic and liberal proposed the use of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea on the great seal of the United States as our emblem of God’s guidance upon our nation. From Patrick Henry to George Washington, their letters, speeches and Bibles tell the story of their Christian faith which they put into practice in government.
Although the United States never had a national church, we have had a national faith. This faith in Almighty God and Jesus Christ is well-documented in the writings of history. The Smithsonian states that the U.S. was more than 90 percent protestant Christian from it’s founding through the Civil War era. Benjamin Franklin stated that atheists and infidels (those of non-Christian religions) were rare. The nation’s best seminaries at Princeton, Yale and Harvard sent their brightest and best leaders (some were ministers) to become governmental leaders, judges, governors and civil servants.
Today the socially liberal tell us that religion and church have their place. However, they tell us that place is not in the realms of government or the public arena. They attempt to push Christianity into the church and the home alone. Yet, Article 1 of the Constitution still stands. The free exercise of religion is both guaranteed and needed for government to thrive. It’s time for the Christians to stand up and serve God and country by bringing their faith to the courthouse, the capitol, the school board, the city office, and the ballot box. Faith and state do mix, and we have more than 300 years of history which prove it.