2023

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Liberty University *

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200-B01

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Political Science

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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Uploaded by ProfNeutronOctopus33

GOVT 200 Upon reading the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists, I noticed several themes and motifs, of which there are three I will discuss: the right of autonomy, revolution, and the separation of church and state. Page 1 of 5

GOVT 200 The initial theme I discovered was that of liberty and autonomy. All three documents emphasize the importance of society’s freedom, independence, and democracy. For example, the U.S. Constitution’s opening clause states that one of the purposes of the document is to secure the blessings of liberty. (U.S. Constitution, 1787). Similarly, the Declaration of Independence’s opening clause states, “that all men are created equal, that their Creator endows them with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Declaration of Independence, 1776). Lastly, Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists stresses the importance of religious autonomy and building a wall between the church and the state. The Bible references the importance of the separation of church and state. Mark 12:17 says, “Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.” This shows that the idea of separation began long before our founding fathers. The United States was founded after many escaped the religious persecution in England and wished to establish a nation that allowed its people to choose which religion they would practice freely. Hence, the overarching theme of autonomy and liberty is found in the above three historical texts. To protect the people’s right to choose their religion, the founding fathers wrote about the importance of separating church and state and building a wall between the church and the state. The second prominent theme in these documents is the people's right to a revolution, should they wish to overthrow their current governmental regime and create a new one. Of the three documents mentioned above, the Declaration of Independence came first. Then came the U.S. Constitution and Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists. The Page 2 of 5

GOVT 200 order in which these three documents were written is important to note because the importance of the separation of church and state grows more assertive in each text. The Declaration of Independence set the stage for creating what would later be referred to as the Establishment Clause in the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment is referred to as the Establishment or Free Exercise Clause. This Amendment inspired Thomas Jefferson to write to the Danbury Baptists about building a wall between the church and the government. Interestingly, the Supreme Court in later years would be challenged with interpreting the Establish Clause in cases regarding religious rights. In the year 1879, in Reynolds V. U.S., the Supreme Court found that the Mormon church was not exempt from supporting polygamy among their faithful and that the practice of polygamy constituted moving over the walls of separation. (Dr. Michael Kryzanek, May 30, 2023, Page 1). The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution believed that the United States could not function to its full potential without a wall between church and state. This is further proven in the clear separation of sovereign powers laid out by the U.S. Constitution. Just as the founding fathers believed that the church and religion had no place in the government or political decisions, they also thought that the branches of government should remain sovereign and be able to function without direct entanglement with one another. According to a study conducted by Pew Research Center in 2021, modern-day Americans still uphold the same values as our founding fathers, with 55% supporting the separation of church and state. Of those 55%, 28% support a “strong” separation of church and state. Not surprisingly, 72% of the democratic party support the church and state separation, and only 38% of Republicans support this separation. The religious right, a group stemming from the Page 3 of 5

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