Thomas Jefferson on Separation of Church and State

Thomas Jefferson on Separation of Church and State

A popular notion among many religious conservatives is the rejection of what is commonly referred to as the separation between church and state. They maintain the United States was founded by leaders who endorsed Christian principles as the cornerstone of American democracy, and that the First Amendment prohibition against government establishment was not intended to remove religion from public life. As a result, a number of disputes have made their way through to the courts, pitting those ready to defend the wall of separation, against those who would tear it down. Two recent cases have brought this battle to the forefront of political debate. The first involves an Alabama Supreme Court justice, who, in defiance of a Federal judge, fought the removal of a granite display of the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the state courthouse. Also, a California man has challenged the constitutionality of the phrase “under God” in an upcoming Supreme Court case involving student recitation of the pledge of allegiance.

In each of these instances those supporting government involvement in, and endorsement of religion have justified their assumptions by referencing the words and beliefs of the founding fathers, most notably Thomas Jefferson. They point out that he, like most of the other founders, was a religious man, and that his writings exposed a conviction America was essentially a Christian nation. After all, wasn’t it Jefferson who spoke of inalienable rights bestowed upon man by God in the Declaration of Independence? A more detailed examination of his beliefs, though, reveals exactly the opposite was the case, as Jefferson was actually a champion of s...

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... Congress, Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1. General Correspondence. 1651-1827. <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mtjhtml/mtjhome.html> [10 December 2003]; also reprinted at <http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1650.htm > [10 December 2003] & <http://members.tripod.com/~candst/tnppage/qjeffson.htm> [10 December 2003]

[11] Thomas Jefferson to Nicholas Gouin Dufief, 19 April 1814, Special Collections, Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1. General Correspondence. 1651-1827. <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mtjhtml/mtjhome.html> [10 December 2003]; also reprinted at <http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1650.htm > [10 December 2003]

[12] Thomas Jefferson, A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, Draft (1799) reprinted at <http://members.tripod.com/~candst/tnppage/statute.htm> [10 December 2003]

[13] Ibid.