“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.” First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

There it is in black and white. Clear enough. Anything missing? No. It is all there. Noticeably absent, however, is the following phrase many would expect to find there; “separation of church and state”. Sorry, it simply is not in the Constitution.

So where do we find the phrase? It was in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association. They had first written to Jefferson, concerned that the federal government would interfere in the business of individual churches. An excerpt from their letter follows:

“It is not to be wondered at therefore, if those who seek after power and gain, under the pretense of government and Religion, should reproach their fellow men, [or] should reproach their Chief Magistrate, as an enemy of religion, law, and good order, because he will not, dares not, assume the prerogative of Jehovah and make laws to govern the Kingdom of Christ.

This was their fear, that the free exercise of Christianity could be hampered by the government ‘assuming the prerogative of Jehovah’, as it were. It was not their intention in the least to suggest that Christianity have no influence over national government, but rather the opposite, that national government should not interfere with freemen in their practice of religion.

Following is the portion of Jefferson’s response containing the phrase in question, as he assured the Danbury Baptists that their religious freedoms would not be abridged:

I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American
people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus
building a wall of separation between church and state.
Thomas Jefferson, January 1st, 1802

Judge for yourself. It seems obvious that neither Thomas Jefferson nor the Danbury Baptists intended anyone to adopt the idea so popular today, that Christianity has no business in government. Their point was indeed the very opposite, that government had no business interfering with any American’s practice of Christianity.

These folks had declared independence from England and fought a war to emancipate them from the dictates of a tyrant. These early Americans were making sure that their constitution did not allow such to happen again. That’s what the wall of separation was for; to keep the federal government from making dictates to the churches.
Marty Kessler