Judicial Tyranny Modern Separation of Church and State
It seems that today, whenever any American citizen tries to influence government decisions based solely on Christian convictions, or publicly expresses Christian sentiments, someone will inevitably object via the “establishment” clause of our Constitution’s First Amendment and reference the phrase “separation of church and state”.
To begin with, the words "separation of church and state" are found nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. The original source of those words is a private letter written in 1802 by then-president Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists in Connecticut. Being a religious minority in their state, the Danbury Baptists were concerned that their religious freedoms might be considered “favors granted” by the Connecticut state legislature rather than “inalienable“ rights. Their reason for fearing this was because religious oppression was being directed toward them in the form of taxation without representation. The Baptists were being forced to support another denomination and decided to write Jefferson to seek his aid, being aware of his past defense of religious freedom. Jefferson replied back, pledged his support, and reminded and assured them that, on the national level as well, the legislature of Congress had no authority or right to tax or make laws favoring an establishment of religion because there exists, in his words, “a wall of separation between church and state“. However, Jefferson never wrote or even hinted anywhere in this letter that public Christian expression is outlawed by the Constitution, but rather affirmed the right of any denomination of Christians to freely express themselves in any public setting. He therefore, in effect, strongly implied that the “wall of separation” was a ONE-WAY impediment. That is, Congress could not interfere in church affairs and religious matters, but at the same time this did not dictate that Christian principles and expression were to be exiled from the operations of civil government or the public arena. Indeed, it can be seen from the metaphor Jefferson used in his reply that it is evident his “wall” was constructed to SERVE free exercise of religion, not prohibit it. Lastly, Jefferson’s letter concluded with a prayer. This is quite ironic since, according to the modern judiciary’s interpretation of the “establishment” clause, Jefferson had violated the principle he just expressed and endorsed! Hardly.
For the sake of argument, let’s suppose Jefferson had actually written in that letter, "It is my belief that...