Separation of Church and State is Necessary for Freedom of Choice
We in America have the right to be free, so why not listen to the words of Thomas Jefferson and build a “wall of separation between church and state?” The wall of separation was Jefferson’s interpretation of the first amendment; however, the idea was actually founder of Rhode Island Roger Williams’. Jefferson’s belief was that religion was a personal relationship strictly between a man and his God and the government should not be allowed to restrict anyone from practicing their religion. With so many different religions in the United States, church and state must be separated to a certain extent because a close relationship between church and state puts constraints on
…show more content…
If there were to be a real separation between church and state, the government would not be able to fund and type of religious organization. This type of funding is unconstitutional under the state and federal law. According to the American principle of church and state, religion is a private matter.
For the most part, God’s name should not be used in public schools. Prayer in public schools should not be allowed because prayer is a religious act. It is wrong for public schools to partake in anything having to do with religion. Many people of the religious majority have tried to make prayer optional. Can you imagine being part of the minority? The Pledge of Allegiance is still under controversy. In 2004, many religious groups gathered to discuss the addition of “under God” into the pledge in 1954. These groups believed that it “undermined the longstanding constitutional rights of religious minorities to seek redress in the federal courts involving mandatory recitation of the Pledge.” (Doerr 34) It is wrong for one religion to be favored over the others. Michigan State University is guilty of favoring Christmas over other religions during the holiday season. The University only decorates for Christmas during the holidays and many people believe that they should either decorate for all holidays celebrated or decorate for the winter season because this is a public university.
In addition,
On January 1, 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Committee of the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut in which he stated:
The central idea is that church and state should not be considered mutual. In the article, “Letter to Danbury Baptist,” Thomas Jefferson respectfully rejects the Danbury Baptist pursue to making their religion the only religion known to state. He also explains that the separation of church and state is a part of the first amendment and it is one that we are going to keep and adhere to. Another article, “First Amendment to the US Constitution” it states the first amendment and all the freedom we have as Americans. An image, “No Union Upon Any Terms” shows how religion is not part of state. Therefore, church and state should be separate.
Our society lacks a moral compass today and we need to find a way to return to our country 's founding values. Is religion the answer? some may think so others may say keep church and state separate. The original statement was in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists Association. In his letter he says “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” (Jefferson 1802). After this letter was written it went unnoticed or used until the mid 1800’s when a group petitioned Congress to remove Christian principles and values from government. They claimed that there needed to be a “separation of church and state”. Again it was unused officially until 1947 when in the case of Everson verses the board of education the court wanted to build the wall high and impregnable. That wall was never supposed to be as it is now referred to. We need to have the religious freedoms free from government control. How can a private petition be taken out of text and used as a guide for our federal court? Our forefathers were influenced by important values when establishing this country. Also, there were a lot of other influences in our founders thought processes; own life experiences, education, and even self gratification. Just reading The Declaration of Independence you can see where their
First, a short recap on American history. During the 17th century, in England the official religion was Anglican, there were few who opposed his majesty and practiced other religions as there were punishments to these actions. Later on, these religious groups were given the opportunity to practice their faith in the New World as colonies of England. Finally, the pilgrims, puritans, Lutherans, and even Catholics had escaped religious persecution they faced in England; in the new found land they could freely practice their beliefs. Therefore, when declaring independence from England, the founding fathers wrote “freedom of religion” in the Bill of Rights and implemented a separation of church and state in order to avoid the government to influence the country based on religious convictions. In an article by Doug Weaver, Weaver references a book by Frank Lambert entitled “Separation of Church and State:
The United States of America was founded on the basis of religious freedom. Judgment on the legality of the Separation of Church and State should not be based on one’s religion. The phrase “Separation of church and state” sometimes known as the “wall of separation between church and state,” is a phrase used by Thomas Jefferson in understanding the two clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. The Establishment Clause is prohibits the government fro making any laws dealing with religion. As the second clause, The Free Exercise Clause goes along with the Establishment clause stating that Congress cannot make any law pertaining to religion or a law that
The separation of the church and state is one of the fundamental principles of U.S. government and law and with it, comes a deep history to back it up. It began many years prior to the establishment of the first public educational institution. Towards the end of the 1700s, many different religious groups began to flourish which made it impossible for them all to be under the control of the states. This is where the
The expression “separation of church and state” is argued between the two groups pro-life and pro-choice. What does “separation of church and state” really mean? Separation of church and state is the principle that government must maintain an attitude of neutrality toward a religion (6). This term was first exercised by Thomas Jefferson in 1801, when he had addressed a letter to the Danbury Baptist regarding state and religion involvement about religious liberty. This letter had nothing stated in it about restricting general religious observations. “The First Amendment” expresses that: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion; or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably
Nowhere in the U.S constitution or any other official documents does it say that there must be strict “separation of church and state”. This clause was used by Jefferson in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut on January 1, 1802 (Truthwalk 1). After being revised six times by one of our founding fathers, James Madision, the first amendment now states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." (Parsons 40). Did the fore fathers intend the first amendment to keep religion out of government, or did they want to create a law that stated religion was a
Even though we have this separation, there have been debates for decades calling for changes. This argument is strongest when it comes to the public school system. There have been controversies over prayer in schools, teaching of evolution, and displaying the Ten Commandments. In the article, “Does religion have a place in public schools?” it states, “Indeed, while public schools, which are run by the government, must allow students to express their own religious views, the First Amendment prevents the schools from endorsing religion or creating an environment that forces students to participate in religious exercises.” The only schools that are exempt from government laws are private schools. They can promote any religion
For years the constitutionality of the separation of church and state has been debated, many people have analyzed and reanalyzed Thomas Jefferson’s famous saying “A Wall of Separation” in his letter to the Danbury Baptist. Many religious people believe that the government is slowly taking our right to freedom of religion, the reason our country was founded, away. The government’s stance on the issue has widely impacted the way America as a whole practices
They also argue that the government should not allow prayer to be in schools. Praising the 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court banning of prayer and religious readings from public schools. Saying that school prayer assumes that all students believe in God, and that a given prayer might be applicable to all different faiths that could be practiced among students. It is much more likely that the typical prayer or
Our founding fathers did support separation church and state of government because religion was a very personal matter. The Bill Of Rights was quickly amended to the Constitution in order to protect the rights of citizens because the original Constitution primarily just defined the powers of government. The third Article of the Bill of Rights (which became the first amendment). “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise…” (Amend. 1) This shows that there is absolute religious freedom. Along with religious freedom, the founding fathers call for a separation of church and state. In Jefferson’s letter to the
However, religion should neither represents public nor considered as something above rights and freedom. In the article, “Separation of Church and State,” Melanie Springer Mock, the author, argued that “by placing nativities in capitol buildings and city parks, the government is advocating for christianity to the exclusion of other faiths embraced by its citizens.” She claimed that when government encouraged citizens to celebrate for Christmas, it automatically ignores all the religions in the nation other than Christianity. Additionally, she mentioned that church and government should separate in order to prevent ignorance of other religions. Also, when religion becomes something above rights, it will destroy the idea of democracy.
“We the people…” is a phrase one might commonly hear in the media. A lesser mentioned and possibly even lesser known phrase is “separation between church and state”. In the most simplest terms separation between church and state means that “government cannot make laws that favor one religion over any other, because it cannot make laws related to the establishment of a religion or the free expression of religious beliefs.” However, many politicians do not care about or even pretend separation between church and state does not exist. This causes a quite few problems.
Separation of church and state is a defined as, the understanding of the intent, and function of the Establishment Clause, and Free Exercise Clause. The Combination of church and state has been a topic that, many generations have struggled with for centuries. The first amendment of the constitution states that “Congress shall make no law about our religious beliefs, or prohibiting our free exercise of religion” If we put our faith in the constitution to define the founding father’s standpoint of separation of church and state, then we have definitely misinterpreted their stance on religion. Many people believe the reference to separation of church and state is in the original constitution, but the truth is, the references, often conceptualized and misinterpreted as intertwining with our religious freedom, but that is not the truth.