For today’s blog, I thought I’d republish the text of a letter of mine which was published recently in the local paper. It’s on the impossibility of a true separation of Church and State in America:
“It is impossible for the United States to have actual separation of church and state. The analogy would be something like little Johnny and Mary are in the back seat of the family car. Mary says, “Johnny’s touching me,” and Johnny accuses Mary of the same. Mom tells them to stop touching each other but gives governing authority to Johnny. He decides what touching is, who can touch whom, and is given the ability to punish Mary if she breaks any of Johnny’s regulations. That’s not separation and not very fair, is it? But, it’s the same system of separation of church and state we have today. The state is in control of that separation. The State tells us what we can and cannot do in practicing our faith and where. If you don’t think this is true, how about we let the church take its turn at controlling what separation looks like.
“Separation of Church and State, as I’m sure the advocates know, is not in the Constitution but was a decision of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court decisions and even at least one Constitutional amendment have been overturned. Let’s treat “Separation” with that in mind, and give the subject a little more thought before getting on our high horses and pointing fingers.”
So, when someone argues with you about prayer in school, Bible classes in government offices, or that shouldn’t be nativity scenes on public lands should be prohibited on the basis of Separation of Church and state, remember this idea is from an interpretation of the Constitution by the Supreme Court, not in the Constitution itself.
The basis of the Supreme Court’s decisions regarding separation of Church and State is a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists in 1802. He used the phrase, “separation of Church and State” but meant that government should be separated from the Church, not the other way around.
Here is a link to the Jefferson letter:
Believers Armed and Dangerous 