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Hidden History for Voters
So often, I listen to political pundits or misinformed Americans that I feel obligated to remind us of America’s Holy History. I especially do that since so many Americans have been deluded into believing erroneously about the First Amendment which declares, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
I realize we have taken a letter from Thomas Jefferson and confused a phrase with constitutional law in separation of church and state. That letter was a comforting letter from President Jefferson to the Ana-Baptist who wanted to make sure the Government was not going to interfere with religious freedom, not to make sure Government was a religion-free zone. The current paradigm has our country not experiencing freedom OF religion but freedom FROM religion. It is both bad legal interpretation as well as historically inaccurate ... Joseph Story was the son of one of the “Indians” at the Boston Tea Party and the founder of Harvard Law School, as well as being nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States by President James Madison. In his commentaries, Justice Joseph Story wrote, “The real object of the first amendment was not countenance, much less advance of Mahometanism, or Judaism or infidelity prostrating Christianity: but to exclude all rivalries among Christian sects.” The point was not to limit religion’s role in Government; it was to limit a government from having an established Christian religion such as the Church of England, for example, where all other denominations were punished. It was not until 1947 in the Everson case that the phrase from President Thomas Jefferson’s letter was used referring to the separation of church and state. Our country never held to that constitutional thought. As a matter of record in 1782, the United States Congress voted this resolution: “The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Bible for use in all schools.”
Our Founding Fathers never intended for the church to be excluded from the political process. John Adams, the second President of our country, said, “The highest glory of the American Revolution is this: it connected into one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.” Until just a few years ago, George Washington’s final speech as he ended his final term as President was considered the most important speech given by our Founding Fathers. In that farewell address, he declared, “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.”
It is important to recognize that religion was not only an influential role in America’s founding and development, but also a primary source of influence. To close out the churches of our country and their voices from the political process is both historically unsupported and socially unwise. To separate religion and morality from the pillars of our society is to undermine the dream of a great America. I am convinced our Founding Fathers would have never believed that a true patriot would want the preachers to be silenced!
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