FD Article #5
by Brian K. Shoemake
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ”
"The Religion Clause" or the concept of unabridged religious freedom as acknowledged by the founders was originally adopted from the Mayflower Compact, brought to America by the Pilgrims, and later enshrined by our founding fathers in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the United States.
by Brian K. Shoemake
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ”
"The Religion Clause" or the concept of unabridged religious freedom as acknowledged by the founders was originally adopted from the Mayflower Compact, brought to America by the Pilgrims, and later enshrined by our founding fathers in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the United States.
While the right to exercise freedom of religion may seem fundamentally obvious in the minds of free people, the issue of to how to reconcile this statement has been the topic of debate and high court challenges over the past century of American history.
There are two clauses of the First Amendment that have been the foundation of legal debate and which concern the relationship between government and religion; The Establishment Clause, and the Free Exercise Clause.
The Establishment Clause deals with the first half of the statement that says:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."
The Free Exercise Clause deals with the second half of the statement:
"or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
Congress is expressly prohibited through the Establishment Clause from establishing or financially supporting any religion, as was the practice in many countries around the world at the time of our founding, including Great Britain which was the origin of many of our founding fathers.
The Free Exercise Clause prohibits the Congress from passing any law that restricts or impedes in any way the free exercise of religion by free people in the United States.
Although these two clauses were intended by the framers to achieve common goals, there is some potential conflict between them. For example, some people may claim that providing a military chaplain for troops serving overseas violates the Establishment Clause, while others might claim that failing to provide a chaplain violates the Free Exercise Clause rights of those same troops.
Original Intent
In 1802 Thomas Jefferson penned a reply to a letter from the Danbury Baptist Association, a minority religion in the state of Connecticut who while praising and congratulating Jefferson for his recent election to the Presidency, were still very skeptical of the state's powers and intent regarding the establishment clause in the recently ratified Bill of Rights.
It’s unlikely that Jefferson was aware that his words “Wall of Separation” while re-assuring the Baptists that the state had no interest in abridging their religious freedoms, would live on as the topic of many legal battles in the highest court in the land for many decades to come.
There are two clauses of the First Amendment that have been the foundation of legal debate and which concern the relationship between government and religion; The Establishment Clause, and the Free Exercise Clause.
The Establishment Clause deals with the first half of the statement that says:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."
The Free Exercise Clause deals with the second half of the statement:
"or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
Congress is expressly prohibited through the Establishment Clause from establishing or financially supporting any religion, as was the practice in many countries around the world at the time of our founding, including Great Britain which was the origin of many of our founding fathers.
The Free Exercise Clause prohibits the Congress from passing any law that restricts or impedes in any way the free exercise of religion by free people in the United States.
Although these two clauses were intended by the framers to achieve common goals, there is some potential conflict between them. For example, some people may claim that providing a military chaplain for troops serving overseas violates the Establishment Clause, while others might claim that failing to provide a chaplain violates the Free Exercise Clause rights of those same troops.
Original Intent
In 1802 Thomas Jefferson penned a reply to a letter from the Danbury Baptist Association, a minority religion in the state of Connecticut who while praising and congratulating Jefferson for his recent election to the Presidency, were still very skeptical of the state's powers and intent regarding the establishment clause in the recently ratified Bill of Rights.
It’s unlikely that Jefferson was aware that his words “Wall of Separation” while re-assuring the Baptists that the state had no interest in abridging their religious freedoms, would live on as the topic of many legal battles in the highest court in the land for many decades to come.
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, 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 & 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.
I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem.”
- Thomas Jefferson Jan. 1, 1802.
It's clear from the writings of Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists, that the intention of the founders was to empower all people with the freedom of religious worship. To acknowledge their unalienable rights as he so eloquently expressed in the Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States:
"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..”
The wall of separation was intended to keep government out of religion. to make certain that the state should never fund or establish a religion, or interfere with the free exercise of religion. The intent was not to keep religion out of government. Even after the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the congress continued to open each session with a Christian prayer.
What is unclear is how upon entering a public schoolroom these unalienable rights can be categorically denied.
Or how the writings of Thomas Jefferson were intended to deprive a soldier from the comfort of a military chaplain while in the commission of serving his or her country.
Or how the “Wall of Separation” was intended to keep free people from expressing religious beliefs in a public forum or town square.
Or how the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as endowed by our creator was ever intended to prohibit a free person from wishing you
“Merry Christmas.”
What is unclear is how upon entering a public schoolroom these unalienable rights can be categorically denied.
Or how the writings of Thomas Jefferson were intended to deprive a soldier from the comfort of a military chaplain while in the commission of serving his or her country.
Or how the “Wall of Separation” was intended to keep free people from expressing religious beliefs in a public forum or town square.
Or how the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as endowed by our creator was ever intended to prohibit a free person from wishing you
“Merry Christmas.”
“Every man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.."
- George Washington, Letter, United Baptist Chamber of Virginia May 1789