Since drafted over two hundred (200) years ago, many reasonable arguments on the meaning of the First Amendment about religion were voiced and written. I do not offer any conclusion to the issue, only an opportunity for you to seek your own understanding. I arrived at my understanding of what the Constitution authors meant through multiple sources, both oral and written. I invite you to do the same.
I welcome you to view My Brief Analysis and use the links I provide to explore your understanding. You will quickly learn there is no shortage of web sites to visit and hard edged arguments to read. Please spend some time on the web sites that present a balanced point of view. Also, use a search engine like Yahoo or Google to find your own sites.
My Brief Analysis
What Separation of Church and State? The establishment clause is not a prohibition on religion. It specifically prohibits congress from making law to identify a particular religion as the official, state religion. How does this clause separate the church and the state?
A Learned Legal Opinion
The establishment of religion clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion.—Hugo Black, Majority opinion, Everson v Board of Education (1947)In My Humble Opinion
Everything US Supreme Court Justice Black put forth in the previous quote seems reasonable and appropriate for a society wanting freedom of and from religion. Is there any inconsistency with his quote and what anyone can think was the intent of the Bill of Rights? I think not! I believe our society is correctly focused on free choice of religion, speech, writing and any activity of expression in the public domain.A Learned Legal Opinion
In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect—Hugo Black, Everson v Board of Education (1947)a wall of separation between church and state.In My Humble Opinion
The five (5) simple words, separation between church and state, in the preceding quote from Thomas Jefferson have been used for decades by numerous activists to promote their agenda.
These five (5) simple words, synergism among church and state, are rooted in thought from another of our founding fathers, John Adams. He points out a different indubitable characteristic of church and state.
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.—John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. 1854), Vol. IX, p. 229, October 11, 1798.
While weighing the significance of this wall of seperation, consider the following queries.
Ponder the preceding and other facets of the issue while using the following links. There is no particular order or intentional bias to the links in my list. Feel free to comment via e-mail.
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