The phrase separation of church and state is not in the U.S. Constitution. In fact, not one of the ninety Founding Fathers stated, argued for or against, or even referred to such a phrase when they debated for months about the specific words to use when writing the First Amendment. Congressional Records from June 7 to September 25, 1789 reveal that none of these men, including Thomas Jefferson, ever used the phrase, separation of church and state. One advocacy group claims, courts have said that church-state separation IS found in the U.S. Constitution, and what the Declaration of Independence says or doesnt say is irrelevant to legal discussions because its not a governance document. Two of the three parts of this claim are false. The phrase, separation of church and state is not written in either the First or the Fourteenth Amendment. Rather, these Amendments explicitly state that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the federal and state governments from nationalizing any religion, from creating a national church, and from favoring one religion over another. Two clauses comprise the Religious Clause of the First Amendment: •The Establishment Clause: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. . . . and, •The Free Exercise Clause: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 13:17:26 +0000
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