ON THE MATTER OF 'CHURCH AND STATE'
The past five decades of
American history have been inundated with this very statement. It has been a source of contention and a
basis for the formation of countless laws regarding the constitutionality of
any relationship whatsoever between the government and any recognized
religion. In fact, it has been a
love-child of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), whose members have
used this statement perhaps more times and to a greater degree than any other
group or organization in the United
States.
Because of this statement, schools no longer teach the biblical account
of creation. The Holy Bible itself is
banned from use, and in some instances even appearance, in many public
educational venues. Prayer, even silent
prayer, is contested – not only by other students who may be ‘offended’ at the
sight, but by the very teachers and administrators to whom the welfare of our
children has been entrusted.
The argument that something
is ‘unconstitutional’ because it violates the First Amendment principle of
‘separation of church and state’ is as much a heresy against the political
foundation of our great nation, as that of the heretics who cried ‘crucify him’
before Pontius Pilate when Jesus had broken no law. Today, the same cry pours out from the
so-called compassionate, caring, and understanding liberal side of the
political and social arena. They readily
condemn the public expression of one’s love for one’s God while they openly
worship their own! Yes, my friend, I
said, “While they openly worship their own.”
Who is their god? Why none other than themselves. They fight for the rights to murder innocent
unborn children who have no ability to defend themselves, while they claim to
feel the pain of their fellow men and women.
They want to ‘save the whales’ but leave their own children in the hands
of people who twist and pervert the original meaning of everything that is pure
and decent. They argue to keep books like Huckleberry Finn and Catcher
in the Rye out of public schools while condoning ‘freedom of speech and
expression’ in any of its most vile and vulgar forms before public audiences.
I say this now, for the
forefathers of our nation never intended this to be so. They carefully chose the wording for the
Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the first ten amendments
(commonly called The Bill of Rights because the first eight of them address
specific rights of individuals).
The first of these, The
Declaration of Independence, was conceived and assembled during the early part
of the year 1776, following the challenge issued by Thomas Paine in the
pamphlet ‘Common Sense’. In this work
his contended that it was impossible for a people to remain loyal to a king
with whom they are in conflict. In fact,
the very reasons for their ancestors’ original departure, as well as their own
desire to be free from the tyranny of England, is found very near the opening
of The Declaration of Independence.
There it is stated that:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness [originally this was to be ‘Life, Liberty, and Property’].”
In the preceding paragraph of
The Declaration, the writers also refer to “the separate and equal station to
which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them.” There is no
doubt that religion of some sort was at the very heart of the founding of the United States of America. As we shall soon see, that religion was, in
fact, none other than Christianity. It
would then be ridiculous to assume that a largely Christian contingent would
write into their own Constitution an amendment that would undermine the very
foundation upon which they purposed to found their new nation of freedom.
How important was this
document that immediately sent our new nation into war with Britain to
those who wrote and affirmed their positions in it? They, themselves, closed the document with
this phrase, immediately followed by each of their signatures:
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm
reliance on the protection of divine Providence,
we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred
Honor.”
You will be hard-pressed to
find any modern declaration of American principles that is afforded such
selfless passion as was The Declaration, which stood on the principle that God
gives rights to all of mankind, and no man has the right to oppress his fellow
man or to take those rights away.
Now as for the matter of The
Constitution, the story of its preparation is almost as compelling as its
intent. For there were no less than two
sessions held with the intent of drafting its framework that ended in total
disaster. In fact, some reports indicate
that scuffles and personal threats took place as the men debated over the
material that should be included. Then,
a local minister was called in to open the next session with prayer. Shortly thereafter the proper work commenced
that eventually led to The Constitution of the United States that we have
today. Even in this, the third
millennium, every joint session of Congress is still opened in prayer. This in itself speaks volumes concerning the
impact that prayer had on that session held in 1787. Regardless of their own personal conviction,
each member of Congress respectfully honors the moment of prayer in deference
to the protocol set forth by the founders of our nation. Perhaps this is a lesson that needs to be
shared with those ‘offended’ liberals who claim that Christianity is so rigid
and intolerant.
This brings us to the heart
of the matter – The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. This is THE First Amendment of THE
Constitution of our nation. The First
Amendment is one of the first ten amendments to the Constitution that became
effective on December 15, 1791. This
First Amendment reads as follows:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or of the
press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.”
You might want to consider
that the above quote is written in a precise form of English very similar to
the Biblical English in which the King James Version of the Bible is
written. The very same Bible that
appeared in almost every home and classroom in this country for over two
centuries until it was challenged and finally banned from our ‘public’ schools
and other venues beginning in the 1960s.
If you look closely that the
wording of the First Amendment, you will not find even a suggestion that any
‘church’ is to be separated in any way from the ‘state’. In fact, not only does the phrase ‘separation
of church and state’ not appear anywhere within the Constitution (or
amendments), but the words ‘church’ and ‘separation’ never appear once in the
entire text of the Constitution or its 27 amendments as of May 7, 1992. This covers a time span that ends more than
thirty years after the concept of ‘separation of church and state’ was
deemed to be a valid Constitutional argument.
It might also be of key importance here to recognize that in the early
1960s, the legal and political definition of the word ‘religion’ was ‘revised’
to include all recognized world religions of the time. However, this was not always so, nor was it the
intent of the framers of the Constitution who selected that one word so
carefully to appear in the First Amendment.
Long before the drafting of
the Bill of Rights, or the framing of the Constitution, or the writing of
‘Common Sense’ that fueled the American Revolution and the declaration thereof,
another document appeared in the fabric of early Americana.
This little known (and seldom taught document) is a very small act
drafted in 1649 in the colony of Maryland. It is known as the Act Concerning Religion,
or the Maryland Toleration Act. Two
unmistakable conclusions can be drawn even from a quick gleaning of the
document: (1) Belief in God as presented in the Bible (that of Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit) was foundational to their motivation and behavior, and was more
important to them than their very lives; and (2) when referring to the subject
of ‘religion’ they were focused solely upon denominations of Christianity and
upon no other so-called ‘world religion’.
In fact, the intent of the second of these two principles was so
focused, that it even excluded Judaism!
As well as protecting the rights of Christians to worship God freely
without threat of persecution, it also provided for the punishment of those who
committed acts of indecency against God and the Scriptures. Among those violations listed are blasphemy
against God, cursing God, denying the Lord and Savior, speaking against the
biblical prophets or apostles, persecuting present-day Christians of any
denomination, and profaning the Sabbath.
Punishments ranged in severity from loss of property to death. You can read this document in its entirety at
the link below:
http://www.thevrwc.org/historical/MarylandTolerationAct.html
Those who argue that the
nation of America was not first a nation of Christians born from a group of
colonies of Christians, who themselves were descendants of persecuted
Christians who came to this untamed new land in search of a better life, are
largely ignorant of the truth about American history (another legacy of our
‘politically-correct’ educational system).
Those first men and women who braved the vast expanse of the Atlantic to venture into a world that they had never
before seen, in a ship that was about the size of a small yacht, did not do so
lightly. They came to North
America in full knowledge that their very survival was at
stake. In fact, true to their own fears
and judgment, half of the original settlers perished during the first winter
they spend in the harsh region that we now call New
England.
There can remain for the
sensible person who looks at our own American history through clear eyes,
untainted by the clouding of selfish motivation and lustful wantonness, only
one possible conclusion. Our nation was,
and is, a nation founded by godly men and women who themselves intended this
land to be, as they were, one of a God-loving, God-fearing, and God-honoring
people. No doubt, they held one truth as
dear to their hearts as the very freedom for which they were willing to forfeit
their lives in order to realize, if not for themselves, then for their
children:
“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the
nations that forget God.”
-Psalm 9:17
God Bless America!!!
In His Love,
Dr. Jack L. Burton
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