Monday, December 15, 2008

Separation of church and state

    Today I received an email which claimed (paraphrased), "Nowhere in the Constitution is there any  statement pertaining to Separation of Church and State."
    Amazingly, it seems that the sender has completely overlooked the First Amendment:
    "Congress should not establish a religion and enforce the legal observation of it by law, nor compel men to worship God in any manner contary to their conscience, or that one sect might obtain a pre-eminence, or two combined together, and establish a religion to which they would compel others to conform (Annals of Congress, Sat Aug 15th, 1789 pages 730 - 731)." JAMES MADISON
    Every time I receive one of these supposedly informed emails pertaining to religion, it makes my skin crawl.  If only these same people would actually read the Constitution and the words of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, among others, they would perhaps understand that the Founding Fathers wrote expressly that there should indeed by a separation of church and state.  It's right there in front of them, but they refuse to see it due to their blind faith in what they perceive as the only "true" religion.  
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.