In his 1802
letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Believing
with you that religion is a matter that lies solely between man and his God,
that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the
legislative powers reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with
sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared 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 meaning of this statement continues to
cause controversy today. I doubt Jefferson meant for this statement to be so
controversial, so why is it? There are continual debates on various subjects:
prayer in school, a nation founded on Christianity, the ways we define our moral
values, and many more. So how should American citizens interpret this when
there are so many conflicting views? I think we first have to remember the
conditions our founding fathers were faced with. Many colonists came from
Europe were there was a national religion, The Church of England. This created
the religious persecution that led to many colonists coming to the "New
World". As Jefferson states in his book, Notes
on the State of Virginia, not all persecutions were stopped. There
were state established religions in some of the colonies. Some had execution as
punishment and others required the belief of God to even run for any office.
Going even farther back in history we find that for hundreds of years people
have been beaten, burned, imprisoned, tortured, and executed in many terrible
ways for not having the same religious beliefs set forth by the governing
powers. Our founders truly knew what it meant to fear for their lives because
of religious persecution. Today we do not face the same severe consequences.
This is because our founding fathers took the time to be careful in making our
laws to protect us from these things. The "wall of separation" was
intended to protect us as citizens, but surprising to many this statement does
not appear in our Constitution. The first amendment does state that, “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." The creation of this separation was and
continues to be a good thing. The problem today arises because of personal
conflicting views. People argue about what is and is not constitutional. Many
times these arguments arise because of selfishness and not selflessness. There
many Supreme Court cases that have addressed the issue through the years. In
1962, Engel v. Vitale established that it was unconstitutional to require
students of a school to recite a school prayer. In the Treaty of Tripoli,
ratified in 1797, it says, “As the Government of the United States of America
is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no
character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen;
and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against
any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising
from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony
existing between the two countries."
The first case was in 1878 in
Reynolds v. U.S. The outcome of that case was that the constitution does not
define religion. These are just a few examples. The point we need to realize is
that our culture is changing rapidly in America. There are many different
religions now and people who do not believe in religion at all. With that in
mind, we have to realize that not all people are going to agree. The separation
was created not to keep people from, for example, praying in school, but
instead allow people a choice instead. No person should be forced to
participate in something they do not believe in or makes them uncomfortable.
Just think how you might feel if were a Christian in a dominantly Muslim
school, and they required you to pray to Allah or face punishment. Separation
is a good thing. It can be hard for some to realize, but the alternative could
be horrible. Just look at the history books and other countries that combine
the two. The Middle East stays in turmoil mainly over this very thing. As
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said, "Those who would
renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a
difficult question: why would we trade a system that has served us so well for
one that has served others so poorly?" This separation will allow everyone
to keep the freedom to do as they please. If there is ever a change to the
Constitution on this, we could face a time when we could suffer the same
persecution as our founders. We as a nation have to understand that everyone
has to be given the same freedom of choice. This is not taking religion out of
our country by any means. Instead it insures that religion cannot be forced on
or taken from us. Listen to JFK's thoughts on this subject.
In his 1802
letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Believing
with you that religion is a matter that lies solely between man and his God,
that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the
legislative powers reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with
sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared 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 meaning of this statement continues to
cause controversy today. I doubt Jefferson meant for this statement to be so
controversial, so why is it? There are continual debates on various subjects:
prayer in school, a nation founded on Christianity, the ways we define our moral
values, and many more. So how should American citizens interpret this when
there are so many conflicting views? I think we first have to remember the
conditions our founding fathers were faced with. Many colonists came from
Europe were there was a national religion, The Church of England. This created
the religious persecution that led to many colonists coming to the "New
World". As Jefferson states in his book, Notes
on the State of Virginia, not all persecutions were stopped. There
were state established religions in some of the colonies. Some had execution as
punishment and others required the belief of God to even run for any office.
Going even farther back in history we find that for hundreds of years people
have been beaten, burned, imprisoned, tortured, and executed in many terrible
ways for not having the same religious beliefs set forth by the governing
powers. Our founders truly knew what it meant to fear for their lives because
of religious persecution. Today we do not face the same severe consequences.
This is because our founding fathers took the time to be careful in making our
laws to protect us from these things. The "wall of separation" was
intended to protect us as citizens, but surprising to many this statement does
not appear in our Constitution. The first amendment does state that, “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." The creation of this separation was and
continues to be a good thing. The problem today arises because of personal
conflicting views. People argue about what is and is not constitutional. Many
times these arguments arise because of selfishness and not selflessness. There
many Supreme Court cases that have addressed the issue through the years. In
1962, Engel v. Vitale established that it was unconstitutional to require
students of a school to recite a school prayer. In the Treaty of Tripoli,
ratified in 1797, it says, “As the Government of the United States of America
is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no
character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen;
and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against
any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising
from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony
existing between the two countries." 
