On Fri 25 Jul 2003 01:45:15p,
[email protected] (Lloyd Parker) wrote in
news:
[email protected]:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "David Allen" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> Words are important. "Involved" covers a lot more ground that
>> "establish".
>>
>> Listen, no one wants government religions or any of that. Wall of
>> separation? Fine. But you advocate a *gulf* of separation that isn't
>> warranted by law,
>
> I refer you to Thomas Jefferson.
The First Amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". What
does this say about what the Church can or cannot do? What does it say
about what a Christian citizen should or should not do? Absolutely
nothing.
Neither the constitution nor Jefferson`s "separation" letter (written in
1802 by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists in Connecticut, thirteen
years after the First Amendment was signed. His comments are third-hand,
which no court of that day would consider.) ever intimates that religious
expression must be kept out of the public arena. Yet the ACLU, Americans
United, and other God-haters continue to lift Jefferson up as a sort of
historic "town crier" for their cause. They seem convinced that Jefferson
would not have permitted any political recognition of anything remotely
religious. Are they correct? You be the judge.
In 1774, while serving in the Virginia Assembly, Jefferson personally
introduced a resolution calling for a Day of Fasting and Prayer.
In 1779, as Governor of Virginia, Jefferson decreed a day of "Public and
solemn thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God."
As President, Jefferson signed bills that appropriated financial support
for chaplains in Congress and the armed services.
On March 4, 1805, President Jefferson offered "A National Prayer for
Peace," which petitioned:
"Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly
beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy
favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry,
sound learning, and pure manners.
Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance,
and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one
united people the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and
tongues.
Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those to whom in Thy Name we entrust the
authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and
that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the
nations of the earth.
In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of
trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; all of which we ask through
Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."
As is evident, Jefferson`s belief in a separation between church and state
did not preclude the very mention of God under state sanction. If he were
not our third president, but our forty-third, I suspect Thomas Jefferson
would find himself on the receiving end of a lawsuit for his sundry
official statements that specifically mention "God" and "Jesus Christ."
Although Jefferson is credited today as some form of authority regarding
the First Amendment, he had absolutely nothing to do with writing it.
Jefferson was not a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, he was
not a signer of he Constitution, nor was he a member of Congress in 1789.
He did not participate in any amendment debates, nor was he a member of
any state legislature or ratifying convention at any time relevant to
passage of the First Amendment. In fact, he was not even in this country
when the First Amendment was written. He was serving as U.S. Minister to
France throughout this time.
