Anti-Religious Activists are Afraid You Will Read This
Thomas Jefferson said: 'I contemplate with sovereign
reverence that act of the whole American people [the First Amendment] 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. Adhering to this expression of the supreme
will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience,' [again, in behalf of the rights of religious conscience, not the other way around (i.e. not in behalf of the Supreme Court or the government or angry anti-religious bigots). The wall of separation is a one-directional wall protecting and celebrating religious free speech everywhere. In fact, it is designed to stop anti-religious people or the government from separating or excluding or interfering with the free expression and exercise of religious conscience in government or government institutions or schools or anywhere. It's the complete opposite meaning of modern liberalism and anti-religious bigotry. They deleted one of Jefferson's sentences that they did not like and are now promoting a lie.] -- Jan. 1. 1802.
[emphasis added]
WallofSeparation.com: "If you want to separate church from
state, would you also condone the separation of African-Americans from state, or the
physically challenged from state, or women from state? 'Separate is not equal!' Which of
these groups of citizens should be denied civil rights to freely petition government
according to their conscience, or to the freedom of speech or prayer?"
The Same Congress that Framed the Bill of Rights Declared Religion to
be Necessary to Good Government and to Schools
The Northwest Ordinance, one of the four organic (foundational) laws of the United
States, passed by congress within a month of the first amendment in 1789 declared: "Religion,
morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and
the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. [emphasis added]"
Thomas Jefferson: "I never will, by any word or act, bow to the
shrine of intolerance, or admit a right of inquiry into
the religious opinions of others." -- letter to Edward Dowse, April 19, 1803
(emphasis added)
Thomas Jefferson said, in 1781 just after the Massachusetts
constitution was ratified: "God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the
liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis,
a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the Gift of God?
That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when
I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.?" -- Notes on the
State of Virginia, Query XVIII, 1781, p. 237 (emphasis added)
James Madison: "I have sometimes thought there could not be a
stronger testimony in favor of religion or against temporal enjoyments, even the most
rational and manly, than for men who occupy the most honorable and gainful departments
[of government] and are rising in reputation and wealth, publicly to declare their
unsatisfactoriness by becoming fervent advocates in the cause of Christ; and I wish
you may give in your evidence in this way." -- Letter of Madison to William Bradford
(September 25, 1773), in 1 James Madison, The Papers of James Madison 66 (William T.
Hutchinson ed., Illinois: University of Chicago Press 1962). (emphasis added)
George Washington: "... forbid us to expect that national
morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true,
that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule,
indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that is
a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation
of the fabric? -- Address of George Washington, President of the United States . . .
Preparatory to His Declination (Baltimore: George and Henry S. Keatinge), pp. 22-23. In
his Farewell Address to the United States in 1796 (emphasis added)
Benjamin Rush (Signer of the Declaration of Independence): "...the
only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government, that
is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by the means
of the Bible. For this Divine Book [the Bible], above all others, favors
that equality among mankind, that respect for just laws, and
those sober and frugal virtues, which constitute the soul of republicanism. -- Essays,
Literary, Moral and Philosophical (Philadelphia: Printed by Thomas and William Bradford,
1806), pp. 93-94. (emphasis added)
Thomas Jefferson said: "On every question of construction [of the
Constitution] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the constitution was adopted,
recollect the spirit of the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed
out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was
passed."
A One-Way Jurisdictional Wall of Separation, Not Segregation
Even though the constitution does not mention a "wall of separation"
between church and state, it is obvious that the United States constitution
intended religion to be "independent of the powers of the
general government", not the other way around!
The First Amendment says: "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."
How can this be saying that religious people don't have the right of conscience to
petition government to create a law (i.e. so-called 'separation'), yet the first
amendment gives them the "right ... to petition the Government..."? This would
be a ridiculous oxymoron! It obviously means that Congress shall make no law where the
text in the law refers to a particular establishment of religion. It would be
unconstitutional to discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, etc., regarding
the conscience of the person who petitioned the government to make a law.
Thomas Jefferson was not a signer of the constitution, but anti-religious activists
ascribe constitutional authority to a misinterpreted version of his statement regarding a
'wall of separation'. They incorrectly reverse the meaning and take it
out of context to justify their preconceived bias. Their irrational anger, against a God
they say does not exist, apparently causes them to narrow-mindedly ignore the 200 or so
other founding fathers. They blindly deny that some of the major pillars of our
constitution were God and Christianity as they crusade to censor churches and eradicate
religious expression. In the words of George Washington "In vain would that man claim
the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human
happiness". These issues need to be exposed in public discussions.
Jefferson and the founding father's intention was clearly "in behalf of
the rights of conscience" to prevent government from inhibiting religion or creating
an oppressive state religious denomination, NOT to prevent government from supporting,
affirming and celebrating religion.
In fact, the only quotations that anti-religious activists can find to justify their
weak case against religion are a few non-public writings (some completely unknown until
1946) that were written late in life or near death, long after any original intent to the
framing of the US constitution could be ascribed to them.
Government was NOT to be Independent of God or the Church
Thomas Jefferson said: "In matters of religion, I have considered
that its free exercise is placed by the Constitution independent
of the powers of the general government. I have therefore undertaken on no occasion to
prescribe the religious exercises suited to it; but have left them as the Constitution
found them, under the direction and discipline of State or Church authorities acknowledged
by the several religious societies."Â -- Second Inaugural Address, 1805. ME
3:378 (emphasis added)
Thomas Jefferson: '...I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act
of the whole American people [the First Amendment] 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. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of
the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere
satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural
rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.
I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father
and creator of man [God], and tender you for yourselves & your religious
association, assurances of my high respect & esteem.' -- Jan. 1. 1802. [emphasis
added]
Do you hear the ACLU or liberal judges or certain anti-religious pro-choice or
homosexual activists saying "...tender you for yourselves & your religious
association, assurances of my high respect & esteem."? On the contrary, their
attitudes are clearly unconstitutional, hostile and discriminatory, unlike Thomas
Jefferson.
Framers Declared God and Religion Necessary to Government
John Adams, our second president, was the principle author of the first constitution -
the Massachusetts constitution from which the US constitution is based. Samuel Adams and
James Bowdoin helped him draft the first constitution. John Adams is one of the men who we
should be especially interested in, regarding separation of church and state.
John Adams said: "[I]t is religion and morality alone which
can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only
foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue." -- The Works of John Adams, Second
President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown,
1854), Vol. IX, p. 401, to Zabdiel Adams on June 21, 1776. (emphasis added)
John Adams: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and
religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -- Oct.11,
1798 Address to the military
John Quincy Adams: "Is it not that the Declaration of Independence
first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth?
That it laid the corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of
Christianity. . ?" -- An Oration Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the Town of
Newburyport, at Their Request, on the Sixty-first Anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence, July 4th, 1837 (Newburyport: Charles Whipple, 1837), p. 5. (emphasis added)
John Quincy Adams, Sixth President of the United States: "The law
given from Sinai [the 10 commandments] was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and
religious code; it contained many statutes . . . of universal application-laws essential
to the existence of men in society, and most of which have been enacted by every nation
which ever professed any code of laws." -- Letters of John Quincy Adams, to His Son,
on the Bible and Its Teachings (Auburn: James M. Alden, 1850), p. 61 (emphasis added)
Benjamin Franklin, Signer of the Constitution and Declaration of
Independence said: "I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more
convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a a
sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can
rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings [of the Bible],
that "except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it." I
firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed
in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by
our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall
become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may
hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human
wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of
Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this Assembly every morning
before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be
requested to officiate in that service." -- James Madison, The Records of the Federal
Convention of 1787, Max Farrand, editor (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911), Vol. I,
pp. 450-452, June 28, 1787. (emphasis added)
Thomas Jefferson: "The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend
all to the happiness of mankind." -- The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Bergh,
editor (Washington, D. C.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Assoc., 1904), Vol. XV, p. 383.
John Hancock, Signer of Declaration of Independence, Governor of
Massachusetts: Sensible of the importance of Christian piety and virtue to the order and
happiness of a state, I cannot but earnestly commend to you every measure for their
support and encouragement. . . . [T]he very existence of the republics . . . depend
much upon the public institutions of religion. -- Independent Chronicle (Boston),
November 2, 1780, last page; see also Abram English Brown, John Hancock, His Book (Boston:
Lee and Shepard, 1898), p. 269 (emphasis added)
Fisher Ames, Framer of the First Amendment said: "Our liberty
depends on our education, our laws, and habits . . . it is founded on morals and
religion, whose authority reigns in the heart, and on the influence all these produce
on public opinion before that opinion governs rulers." -- An Oration on the Sublime
Virtues of General George Washington (Boston: Young & Minns, 1800), p. 23. (emphasis
added)
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Signer of the Declaration of
Independence said: "Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they
therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime
& pure, [and] which denounces against the wicked eternal misery, and [which] insured
to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best
security for the duration of free governments. -- Bernard C. Steiner, The Life and
Correspondence of James McHenry (Cleveland: The Burrows Brothers, 1907), p. 475. In a
letter from Charles Carroll to James McHenry of November 4, 1800. (emphasis added)
John Witherspoon, Signer of the Declaration of Independence:
[W]hatsoever State among us shall continue to make piety [respect for God] and virtue the
standard of public honor will enjoy the greatest inward peace, the greatest national
happiness, and in every outward conflict will discover the greatest constitutional
strength. -- The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. IV, p.
270, from his “Sermon Delivered at Public Thanksgiving After Peace.†(emphasis
added)
The Lies and Distortion of the Separation of Church and State
Everson v. Board of Education (1947)Â was the landmark case that falsely
interpreted Thomas Jefferson's single statement and improperly weighed his statement
heavily as though he was a signer of the constitution. This set the stage for the modern
anti-religious movement of the ACLU and others.
"In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law
was intended to erect 'a wall of separation' between church and
state." -- Hugo Black, Everson v. Board of Education (1947) †â€
The following quote is a clever deception that narrowly tests only certain
writings of George Washington so that the authors can make it appear that Washington never
referred to God...
"...the name of Christ, in any correspondence whatsoever, does not appear anywhere
in his many letters to friends and associates throughout his life." -- Paul F.
Boller, George Washington & Religion (1963) pp. 74-75, quoted from Ed and Michael
Buckner, "Quotations that Support the Separation of State and Church."
In fact, George Washington Promoted Government's Encouragement
of Church
George Washington said: "You do well to wish to learn our arts
and our ways of life and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will
make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can
to assist you in this wise intention." -- George Washington's Speech to Delaware
Indian Chiefs on May 12, 1779, in John C. Fitzpatrick, editor, The Writings of George
Washington, Vol. XV (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1932), p. 55 (emphasis
added)
George Washington, "Father of Our Country": "Of all the
dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are
indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism,
who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness. . . . The
mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. ...
Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life,
if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of
investigation in Courts of Justice?" -- Address of George Washington, President of
the United States . . . Preparatory to His Declination (Baltimore: George and Henry S.
Keatinge), pp. 22-23. In his Farewell Address to the United States in 1796. (emphasis
added)
George Washington: "While just government protects all in their
religious rights, true religion affords to government its surest support." -- The
Writings of George Washington, John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1932), Vol. XXX, p. 432 n., from his address to the Synod of
the Dutch Reformed Church in North America, October 9, 1789.
Other Signers of the Constitution, declared:
Joseph Story appointed to the Supreme Court by President James
Madison: "I verily believe Christianity necessary to the support of civil society.
One of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a
part of the Common Law. . . . There never has been a period in which the Common Law
did not recognize Christianity as lying its foundations." -- Commentaries on the
Constitution of the United States; and 1829 speech at Harvard (emphasis added)
Alexander Hamilton: "[T]he law ... dictated by God Himself is, of
course, superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all
countries, and at all times. No human laws are of any validity if contrary to this."
William Paterson: "Religion and morality . . . [are] necessary to
good government, good order, and good laws."
Rufus King (also a framer of the Bill of Rights): "[T]he . . .
law established by the Creator . . . extends over the whole globe, is everywhere and at
all times binding upon mankind. . . . [This] is the law of God by which he makes his way
known to man and is paramount to all human control."
James Wilson, Signer of the Declaration and the Constitution, Original
Justice on the U. S. Supreme Court: "All [laws], however, may be arranged in two
different classes. 1) Divine. 2) Human. . . . But it should always be remembered that this
law, natural or revealed, made for men or for nations, flows from the same Divine source:
it is the law of God. . . . Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the
authority of that law which is Divine."
Dewitt Clinton, the Framer who introduced the 12th Amendment, also
declared: "The laws which regulate our conduct are the laws of man and the laws of
God. . . . The sanctions of the Divine law . . . cover the whole area of human
action."
Abraham Baldwin, also a framer of the bill of rights in the first
congress: "[A] free government. . . . can only be happy when the public principle and
opinions are properly directed. . . . by religion and education. It should therefore be
among the first objects of those who wish well to the national prosperity to encourage and
support the principles of religion and morality." -- Charles C. Jones, Biographical
Sketches of the Delegates from Georgia to the Continental Congress (Boston: Houghton,
Mifflin, and Company, 1891), pp. 6-7
James McHenry: [P]ublic utility pleads most forcibly for the general
distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they
impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of
divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to
society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government,
purity, stability and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and
draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they
abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience. --
Bernard C. Steiner, One Hundred and Ten Years of Bible Society Work in Maryland, 1810-1920
(Maryland Bible Society, 1921), p. 14.
And on and on...
