You've probably heard it many times: Someone wagging a finger and going on about the "separation
of church and state."
But if Thomas Jefferson were listening in on that conversation, he would definitely
have something to say about how his words were being used – and abused.
Hi, I'm Lathan Watts, Director of Community Relations for First Liberty Institute.
There can be no better way to celebrate one of America's greatest statesmen than by
reclaiming his legacy for religious liberty and living as boldly as he did in freedom's
defense.
It is sadly ironic that a few select words of Jefferson — the "wall of separation
between church and state"— have been abused and distorted today by those seeking to dismantle
the foundations of our republic.
Those words appeared in Jefferson's now infamous letter to the Danbury Baptists, a
religious group in Connecticut concerned with its state government's weak religious liberty
protections.
Shortly following his election to the presidency in 1802, Jefferson wrote:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God,
that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative
powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign
reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature would
'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and state.
Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights
of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend
to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition
to his social duties.
"Thus building a wall of separation between church and state" is arguably the most abused
phrase in American history.
A parade of anti-faith groups have used this phrase as a call to arms in a never-ending
courtroom assault.
Consider these cases, just a few of the hundreds of legal matters First Liberty Institute engages
in each year.
Two county commissioners — one in Jackson County, Michigan, the other in Rowan County,
North Carolina — regularly open their sessions with an invocation led by one of the commissioners.
In 2013, an individual activist and the ACLU, respectively, sued the commissioners for supposedly
violating the separation of church and state.
But as president, Jefferson not only signed bills which appropriated financial support
for chaplains in Congress and the military, but he himself attended church services held
on the floor of the House of United States Representatives at the U.S. Capitol.
Toni Richardson is an educational technician who works with students with special needs
at a public high school in Augusta, Maine.
In a conversation at school, she told a co-worker and fellow church member, "I'll pray for
you."
Her employer, citing the "separation of church and state," threatened her with disciplinary
action up to termination if she continued using such "unprofessional language."
What would Jefferson think?
As president, Jefferson also served as the chairman of the school board for the District
of Columbia.
There he authored the first plan of education adopted by the city.
His plan used the Bible and Isaac Watts' hymnal as the key books for teaching reading
in their schools
Oscar Rodriguez is a decorated Air Force veteran.
While giving a patriotic flag-folding speech at a retirement ceremony for fellow airman
Chuck Roberson, uniformed airmen assaulted and physically removed Rodriguez from the
room because he dared to mention the word "God" in his speech.
What was Jefferson's approach to the role of religion in the military?
In addition to the bills he signed appropriating funds for chaplains in the military, he also
signed the Articles of War on April 10, 1806, in which he "earnestly recommended to all
officers and soldiers, diligently to attend divine services."
In perhaps his most famous written work, the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson exemplified
his deep commitment to the divine origin of the rights of each individual in the famous
line, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Life,
Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
In essence, America's "birth certificate," as penned by Jefferson, declares that God
exists, and his existence forms the basis for all personal, political, and economic
rights.
Those who seek to hijack the phrase "separation of church and state" to impose secular humanism
on our political life can only do so by willfully turning a blind eye to the volumes of Jefferson's
other writings, as well as his own actions as president.
Those actions speak louder than any words.
Jefferson's victories for religious freedom are our cherished heritage, and his fight
for liberty is now our fight.
Now is a time for all Americans—religious or not—to stand for our first freedom as
the bedrock upon which all liberty stands.
No better inspiration can be found than Jefferson's own personal seal, which read, "Rebellion
to tyrants is obedience to God."
Those who stand courageously against oppression can do so secure in the knowledge that the
author of the Declaration of Independence — and more importantly, the Author of our
liberty itself — are not neutral in the contest.
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