Religious Freedom in America
Constitution of the United States of America: Amendment the First
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
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After issuing an order to establish the position of Chaplain in each Regiment by allowance of the Continental Congress, General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Colonial Army, explained the action in the following way:
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"The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in the times of public distress and danger - The General hopes and trusts, that every officer, and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country."
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This is just one example of the Christian heritage this nation, comprised of "Free and Independent States." Christian doctrine is the foundation which provided the reasoning behind this country's existence. Throughout the course of its history, the Continental Congress exhibited not only a tolerance for religious practice, but drew its purpose from the heart of Scripture and a firm "reliance on the protection of Divine Providence."
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During debates on the Constitution it was recommended that those serving in Congress should be required to profess a faith in the Divine. The primary reason such a profession of faith was not placed in the Constitution as a requirement was the concern by many that insisting that one do so may cause some to act in hypocrisy. It was determined that "they must be left, to the searcher of hearts."
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In today's culture all opinions seem to agree with the initial clause of the First Amendment which states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." The controversy begins when the second clause is taken into consideration. "Congress shall make no law...prohibiting the free exercise (of religion)." This clause was equally vital in the minds of those Founding Fathers who debated the issue. It was determined that the Constitution could only be approved if it was agreed that the very first Right to be granted would be that of religious freedom. They were strictly opposed to the Federal Government being able to obstruct the free exercise of Christianity in whichever form it would take.
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Many have bought into the concept of the "separation of Church and State" as presented in popular culture. They have been led to believe that this phrase is in the Constitution, or at the very least, in the Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution). In reality, this sentence fragment is taken out of context from a letter written by President Thomas Jefferson to a "Committee of the Danbury Baptist Association, in the State of Connecticut" He was responding to their letter congratulating him on his election and expressing concerns regarding the Federal Government setting forth one group of Christians over another. It was their thought that a preference of one sect of Christianity over another may be granted based on those serving in Congress.
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President Jefferson quoted both clauses of the First Amendment related to religious freedom and assured them that it build "a wall of separation between church and state." In this statement he was giving confidence that they need not fear the Federal Government putting a premium on one Christian group over another. The church was protected from Federal Government interference. He was assuaging their angst, but in no way was he indicating that the church was to be limited by the wall. It was, in fact, a one-way wall of separation, keeping the Federal Government out of the business of the Church.
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The signing of the Constitution concludes with the words, "Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth. In Witness whereof We have hereunto ascribed our Names." Each segment of the Constitution was debated extensively and intentional. They referenced both the "Year of our Lord" and the "Independence of the Unites States of America" with equal emphasis.
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The intricacy of religion in our culture did not begin with the gathering of our nation's founders. Such principles, rather, drove the first settlers of America to these shores in order to depart unfriendly shores across the ocean. These early settlers braved the treachery of the great seas with a great potential of danger in search of freedom to serve the Almighty according to the sacred conviction.
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Even Columbus, whom some have attempted to vilify of late, sought out to bring the message of God to this new land. In his letter to the King of Spain he clearly indicated, "...I see that they repeat very quickly what I told them, and it is my conviction that they would easily become Christians, for they seem not to have any sect."
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The charter to establish a settlement of English origin was granted to Sir Walter Raleigh on March 25, 1584. The document's opening paragraph set forth, "Elizabeth, by the Grace of God of England, Fraunce and Ireland Queene, defender of the faith, &c ... grant to our trustie and welbeloved servant Walter Ralegh, Esquire...to discover, search, finde out, and view such remote ... territories, not actually possessed of any Christian Prince, or inhabited by Christian People, as to him, shall seeme good...there to build and fortifie, at the discretion of the said Walter Raleigh." The Queen addressed the accountability of Raleigh for his actions to "all Christian kings, princes and states."
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Perhaps one of the most famous of documents is the Mayflower Compact, establishing the government of those Puritans for their new settlement, originally intended for the northern coast of Virginia. The initial sentences clearly laid out the purpose of the new colony:
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"In the name of God Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyall subjects of our dread sovereign Lord King James by the grace of God, of great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland kind, defender
of the faith, &c.
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Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country...do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body Politick..."
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Even Thomas Paine, well known patriot opposed to the intermix of God and government, wrote in his pamphlet The American Crisis in December 1776:
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"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands NOW, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. ...
I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished the government of the world, and given us up to the care of devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on what ground the king of Britain can look up to Heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a housebreaker, has as good a pretence as he."
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In further proof of this Christian foundation I offer the following excerpts from President Washington's Farewell Address:
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"...in situations in which not unfequently want of Success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your Union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained;...
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...Citizens by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of AMERICAN, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same Religion, Manners, Habits and political Principles.
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Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be
asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
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Observe good faith and justice towds. all Nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoins this conduct; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? ... Can it be, that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its virtue? ...
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Though in reviewing the incidents of my Administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils which they may tend..."
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As many have pointed out, and as our first President so eloquently indicated, this nation is comprised of fallible mankind. It has been from the beginning. Yet it is without doubt that the United States of America has been, since its inception upon the shores of this "new world," comprised of a citizenry who has been founded and focused upon the truths of the Bible, and thereby, the concepts of Christian living. If we are to restore this land to its proper place of prominence as a goodly society, we must begin at its foundations of Christian morality.
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