[Vision2020] Separation of Church and State

[Nick Gier]

Greetings:

Just a few brief comments on Kai Eiselein's thread on church and 
state.  Suggesting amendments to the Declaration of Independence is like 
calling for a new edition of Shakespeare's Hamlet.  The Declaration is a 
beautiful piece of revolutionary rhetoric.  It is not a legal document and 
has no standing in Constitutional law. (The Constitution makes no mention 
of God.) Furthermore, the phrase "Nature's God and God's Nature" sounds 
suspiciously deistic.  For some Christian fundamentalists nature is the 
realm of the Devil. Finally, Thomas Jefferson, a fervent critic of orthodox 
Christianity, was the author of the Declaration.

In order to interpret the Constitution, jurists must consider not only 
recent developments in legal thinking but also what the founding thinkers 
thought as well.  For example, what would "well regulated militia" mean for 
an American in the late 18th Century?  I personally don't think it meant 
private citizens having their own armories.  Considering Jefferson's 
contributions to the founding of our republic, I think we should take very 
seriously his language about the "wall" separating church and state.

With regard to church/state issues, both Jefferson and Jackson refused to 
sign a proclamation for an annual day of thanksgiving and 
prayer.  Jefferson believed that school children should not be subjected to 
mandatory prayer, but a separate prayer room should be provided for that 
purpose.  President Madison believed that churches should pay taxes and 
that Congress should not hire chaplains.  Some think that only today's 
activist judges would hold such radical views.

And one more thing.  The Constitution does protect any American from 
religion.  Last time I checked it was still legal to be an atheist in 
America.  I will celebrate complete religious freedom in America only when 
we elect our first atheist president. As a matter of fact, opponents to 
Jefferson in the election of 1800 really thought that America had elected 
its first atheist.

Nick Gier

"The god you worship is the god you deserve."
~~ Joseph Campbell
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