I think you over reached a bit with your post. There is no separation of church and state mentioned in the constitution. It simply bars the federal government from establishing a state religion. The concept of separation of church and state actually came in a Supreme Court decision (Everson v. Board of Education 1947) that was based on a letter written by Thomas Jefferson.
In 1801, the Danbury Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut, heard a rumor that the Congregationalist denomination was about to be made the national denomination. That rumor distressed the Danbury Baptists, as it should have. Consequently, they fired off a letter to then President Thomas Jefferson voicing their concern. On January 1, 1802, Jefferson wrote the Danbury Baptists, assuring them that "the First Amendment has erected a wall of separation between church and state."
The First Amendment never intended to separate religious principles from government. The First Amendment simply states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
Obviously, the words "separation," "church," or "state" are not found in the First Amendment; furthermore, that phrase appears in no founding document.
The Courts began regularly to speak of a "separation of church and state," broadly explaining that, "This is what the Founders wanted—separation of church and state. This is their great intent." The Court failed to quote the Founders; it just generically asserted that this is what the Founders wanted.
The courts continued on this track so steadily that, in 1958, in a case called Baer v. Kolmorgen, one of the judges was tired of hearing the phrase and wrote a dissent warning that if the court did not stop talking about the "separation of church and state," people were going to start thinking it was part of the Constitution. That warning was in 1958!
I guess he was right, because now you and you allies at the Daily Kos actually believe it.
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I think you over reached a bit with your post. There is no separation of church and state mentioned in the constitution. It simply bars the federal government from establishing a state religion. The concept of separation of church and state actually came in a Supreme Court decision (Everson v. Board of Education 1947) that was based on a letter written by Thomas Jefferson.
In 1801, the Danbury Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut, heard a rumor that the Congregationalist denomination was about to be made the national denomination. That rumor distressed the Danbury Baptists, as it should have. Consequently, they fired off a letter to then President Thomas Jefferson voicing their concern. On January 1, 1802, Jefferson wrote the Danbury Baptists, assuring them that "the First Amendment has erected a wall of separation between church and state."
The First Amendment never intended to separate religious principles from government. The First Amendment simply states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
Obviously, the words "separation," "church," or "state" are not found in the First Amendment; furthermore, that phrase appears in no founding document.
The Courts began regularly to speak of a "separation of church and state," broadly explaining that, "This is what the Founders wanted—separation of church and state. This is their great intent." The Court failed to quote the Founders; it just generically asserted that this is what the Founders wanted.
The courts continued on this track so steadily that, in 1958, in a case called Baer v. Kolmorgen, one of the judges was tired of hearing the phrase and wrote a dissent warning that if the court did not stop talking about the "separation of church and state," people were going to start thinking it was part of the Constitution. That warning was in 1958!
I guess he was right, because now you and you allies at the Daily Kos actually believe it.