I think you're being unnecessarily obtuse, tongue-person. The reason amendments to the constitution exist was that the founding fathers could not foresee all possible ramifications of their actions in the future. Thus, the constitution has been amended
27 TIMES. The constitution was not created as a static document that would never change. It was created as a flexible document that could be changed as needed, thus the amendment process. So, the fact that the phrase "wall of separation between church and state" is not mentioned in the text of the constitution does not mean that it is irrelevant.
At the time that Jefferson wrote his letter to the Danbury Baptists, Baptists in Connecticut had written to him asking for his assistance. They were being forced financially support the "state" religion of connecticut, the congregationalists. So, in essence, government was imposing an involuntary religious tax on every resident of the state to support the state's religion, and people who resided in this state were forced to violate their own conscience because it was the law. It was this issue that motivated Jefferson's comments as well as the 2nd amendment.
A little historical information:
Quote:
The Times newspaper article says that the Danbury group "had sent Jefferson a letter of congratulations on his election, and the president 'labored over' a strategic reply..." according to Mr. Houston.
But the real background is more complex, and contains crucial information ignored or deleted by the Times. In fact, the letter from the Baptist group was a complaint that the Connecticut tax laws oppressed them, since they permitted communities to levy taxes for the support of an official, government-chosen religion. Connecticut was overwhelmingly Congregationalist, so Baptist and members of other religious groups (as well as nonreligious persons) were compelled to support the dominant faith through their tax money." In his seminal work, "JEFFERSON THE PRESIDENT: First Term, 1801-1805", the distinguished historian Dumas Malone noted that Jefferson "was honored as an apostle of religious liberty. Much of their address sounded like (Jefferson's) bill for establishing religious freedom in Virginia, and they hoped that the sentiments of their 'beloved President' would prevail so that 'hierarchy and tyranny' would vanish from the earth..."
Indeed, Jefferson had been the architect of the Act for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia which put an end there to the compulsory funding of so-called "established" churches. One often had to be a member of the "established" congregation in order to vote, own property or exercise other rights -- a fact that may account for the resistance of the select group of voters who constantly fought the disestablishment of these religious groups. The 1786 Act stated that "no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions of belief..."
Responding to the Danbury Baptists 16 years later, Jefferson wrote: "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law regarding an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."
http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/rfa11.htm
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So, the wall of separation is not just to protect the non-religious from the religious (though it is often spun that way). More often, it has served to protect minority religious groups, like the Danbury Baptist Association, from incursions of their civil liberties by more established majority religions. And, of course, to protect the religious organizations themselves from being dominated and dictated to by government heads.
It is also important to note that the founding fathers had the rich and abusive religious history of England, and England's state-sponsored persecutions of specific religious faiths, to draw upon in establishing the structure of social and religious life in the new United States.
My views on this subject changed a great deal when I lived in Utah for 10 years. When you are a person of a minority faith, overwhelmingly surrounded by a sea of people who believe differently, and when you are trying to raise your children in your own faith, then you will fight desperately to keep religion out of the schools and public events.
05-05-2008, 05:09 AM
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