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IS THIS AN UNTAMPERED FILE?
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Imprimis, On Line
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April, 1995
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IMPRIMIS (im-pri-mis), taking its name from the Latin
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term, "in the first place," is the publication of
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Hillsdale College. Executive Editor, Ronald L.
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Trowbridge; Managing Editor, Lissa Roche; Assistant,
|
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Patricia A. DuBois. Illustrations by Tom Curtis. The
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opinions expressed in IMPRIMIS may be, but are not
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necessarily, the views of Hillsdale College and its
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External Programs division. Copyright 1995. Permission
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to reprint in whole or part is hereby granted, provided
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a version of the following credit line is used:
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"Reprinted by permission from IMPRIMIS, the monthly
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journal of Hillsdale College." Subscription free upon
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request. ISSN 0277-8432. Circulation 585,000 worldwide,
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established 1972. IMPRIMIS trademark registered in U.S.
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Patent and Trade Office #1563325.
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--------------------------------------------
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Volume 24, No. 4
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Hillsdale College,
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Hillsdale, Michigan 49242
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April 1995
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--------------------------------------------
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"The Religious Roots of Freedom"
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by M. Stanton Evans
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Director, National Journalism Center
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--------------------------------------------
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In this issue, M. Stanton Evans makes the case that the
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Founders intended the First Amendment to protect
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religion from government. He offers compelling
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historical evidence to support this view and to refute
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the "liberal history lesson," which teaches that
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religion and freedom are in conflict.
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Mr. Evans spoke before an audience of over 300
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students, faculty, and guests during Hillsdale's Center
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for Constructive Alternatives seminar, "God and Man:
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Perspectives on Christianity in the 20th Century," last
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November.
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--------------------------------------------
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As the renewed debate over prayer in the public schools
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suggests, the cultural conflict of the modern era finds
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vivid and enduring focus in the legal dispute about the
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place of religion in the civic order. Here the battle
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is overt, relentless, and pervasive--with traditional
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belief and custom retreating before a secularist
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onslaught in our courts and other public institutions.
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During the past three decades, the U.S. Supreme
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Court has handed down a series of rulings that decree a
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"wall of separation" between affairs of state and the
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precepts of religion. In the most controverted of these
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cases, in 1962, the Court said an officially sponsored
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prayer recited in the New York public schools was an
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abridgement of our freedoms. This prayer read, in its
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entirety: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence
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on Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents,
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our teachers, and our country." In the Court's opinion,
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this supplication triggered the First Amendment ban
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against an "establishment of religion," logic that was
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later extended to reading the Bible and reciting the
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Lord's Prayer in the classroom.
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In adopting the First Amendment, according to the
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Court, the Founders meant to sever all connection
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between religious faith and government, requiring that
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religion be a purely private matter. As Justice Hugo
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Black put it in an oft--quoted statement: "The
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'establishment of religion' clause of the First
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Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the
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federal government can set up a church. Neither can
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pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or
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prefer one religion over another...No tax in any
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amount, large or small, can be levied to support any
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religious activities or institutions, whatever they may
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be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or
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practice religion."
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This doctrine has been affirmed and amplified in
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many rulings since. In support of it, Black and his
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successors (most recently Justice David Souter) have
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offered a reading of our history that supposedly shows
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the intentions of the people who devised the First
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Amendment. In a nutshell, this tells us that the
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Founders chiefly responsible for the Constitution's
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religion clauses were Madison and Jefferson; that they
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held views intensely hostile toward any governmental
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backing for religion; and that the amendment was a
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triumph for their separationist position.
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Of Whole Cloth
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The First Amendment depicted by Justice Black and other
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liberal jurists is, unfortunately, a fabrication. The
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Supreme Court's alleged history is a prime example of
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picking and choosing elements from the past to suit the
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ideological fashions of the present. If we consult the
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history of the nation's founding, we find that the
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Court and its supporters have misstated the material
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facts about the issue in every possible fashion.
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To begin with, state papers, legal arrangements,
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and political comment of the founding generation show
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that American culture in that period was suffused with
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religious doctrine. The point is made by the very
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concept of an "establishment of religion." This term
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had a definite meaning in England and the colonies that
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is critical to understanding the debate about the First
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Amendment. It signified an official church that
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occupied a privileged position with the state, was
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vested with certain powers denied to others, and was
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supported from the public treasury. Such was the Church
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of England in Great Britain, and such also were
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numerous churches in the colonies at the beginning of
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our revolution.
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The States' Churches
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In 1775, no fewer than nine colonies had such
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arrangements. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New
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Hampshire had systems of local church establishment in
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favor of the Congregationalists. In the South, from
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Maryland on down, the establishments were Episcopal. In
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New York, there was a system of locally supported
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Protestant clergy. Because of growing religious
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diversity within the states, pressure mounted to
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disestablish these official churches. In particular,
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increasingly numerous Baptists and Presbyterians made
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headway against the Anglican position, which was
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further weakened by the identification of many
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Episcopal ministers with the English.
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Even so, at the time of the Constitutional
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Convention, the three New England states still had
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their Congregational establishments. In other states,
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there remained a network of official sanctions for
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religious belief, principally the requirement that one
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profess a certain kind of Christian doctrine to hold
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public office or enjoy other legal privilege. With
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local variations, these generally tended in the same
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direction, and they make instructive reading alongside
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the statements of Justices Black and Souter about the
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supposed history of our institutions.
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In South Carolina, for example, the Constitution of
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1778 said that "the Christian Protestant religion shall
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be deemed...the established religion of the state." It
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further said that no religious society could be
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considered a church unless it agreed "that there is one
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eternal God and a future state of rewards and
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punishment; that the Christian religion is the true
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religion; that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New
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Testaments are of divine inspiration." South Carolina
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also asserted that "no person who denies the existence
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of a Supreme Being shall hold any office under this
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Constitution."
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Similar statements can be gleaned from other state
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enactments of the period. The Maryland Constituion of
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1776 decreed, for instance, "a general and equal tax
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for the support of the Christian religion." New Jersey
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that year expressed its idea of toleraiton by saying
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that "no Protestant inhibitant of this colony shall be
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denied the enjoyment of any civil right."
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Massachusetts, in 1780, authorized a special levy to
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support "public Protestant teachers of piety, religion
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and morality"--a formula adopted verbatim by New
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Hampshire.
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Official support for religious faith and state
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religious requirements for public office persisted well
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after adoption of the First Amendment. The established
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church of Massachusetts was not abolished until 1833.
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In New Hampshire, the requirement that one had to be
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Protestant to serve in the legislature was continued
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until 1877. In New Jersey, Roman Catholics were not
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permitted to hold office until 1844. In Maryland, the
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stipulation that one had to be a Christian lasted until
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1826. As late as 1835, one had to be a Protestant to
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take office in North Carolina; until 1868, the
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requirement was that one had to be a Christian;
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thereafter that one had to profess a belief in God.
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The official sanction for religious belief provided
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by the states was equally apparent at the federal
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level, during and after the Revolution. Appeals for
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divine assistance, days of prayer and fasting, and
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other religious observance were common in the
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Continental Congress. Among its first items of
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business, in 1774, the Congress decided to appoint a
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chaplain and open its proceedings with a prayer. When
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it was objected that this might be a problem because of
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diversity in religious doctrine, Sam Adams answered: "I
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am not a bigot. I can hear a prayer from a man of piety
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and virtue, who is at the same time a friend of his
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country."
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On June 12, 1775, the Congress called for "a day of
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public humiliation, fasting, and prayer," wherein "[we]
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offer up our joint supplications to the all-wise,
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omnipotent, and merciful disposer of all events." In
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observance of this fast day, Congress attended an
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Anglican service in the morning and a Presbyterian
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service in the afternoon.
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During the Revolutionary War, Congress made
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provision for military chaplains, recommended that
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officers and men attend religious service, and
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threatened court martial for anyone who misbehaved on
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such occasions. It also adopted the Northwest
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Ordinance, stressing the need for "religion and
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morality," appropriated money for the Christian
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education of Indians, and encouraged the printing of a
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Bible. The Northwest Ordinance and the measures
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regarding chaplains, official prayer, and education of
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the Indians were re-adopted by the first Congress under
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the new Constitution and maintained for many years
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thereafter.
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Crumbling Wall
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Such was the body of doctrine and official practice
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that surrounded the First Amendment--immediately
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predating it, adopted while it was being discussed and
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voted on, and enduring long after it was on the books.
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The resulting picture is very different from any notion
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of America as a country run by secularists and Deists.
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Nor does it look very much like a country in which the
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governing powers were intent on creating a "wall of
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separation" between church and state, denying official
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support to the precepts of religion.
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This was the background to Madison's motion on June
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8, 1789, introducing a set of amendments to the
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Constitution, culled from the proposals of conventions.
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Among the measures that he offered was this pertaining
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to an establishment of religion: "The civil rights of
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none shall be abridged on account of religious belief,
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nor shall any national religion be established...." In
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view of the weight that has been given to Madison's
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personal opinions on the subject, his comments on this
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occasion are of special interest. For example,
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challenged by Roger Sherman as to why such guarantees
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were needed, given the doctrine of "enumerated powers,"
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Madison said:
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he apprehended the meaning of the words to be, that
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Congress shall not establish a religion and enforce
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the legal observation of it by law, nor compel men
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to worship God in any manner contrary to their
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conscience. Whether the words are necessary or not,
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he did not mean to say, but they had been required
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by some of the state conventions, who seemed to
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entertain an opinion that [under the "necessary and
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proper" clause]...Congress...might infringe the
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rights of conscience and establish a national
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religion; to prevent these effects he presumed the
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amendment was intended, and he thought it as well
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expressed as the nature of language would admit.
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[Italics added.]
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In this and other exchanges, the House debate made
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two things clear about the Bill of Rights and its
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religion clauses: (1) Madison was introducing the
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amendments not because he thought they were needed but
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because others did, and because he had promised to act
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according to their wishes; (2) the aim was to prevent
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Congress from establishing a "national" religion that
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would threaten the religious diversity of the states.
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Given the varied practices we have noted, ranging from
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establishments and doctrinal requirements for public
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office to relative toleration, any "national" religion
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would have been a source of angry discord.
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Against that backdrop, the meaning of the
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establishment clause as it came out of conference
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should be crystal clear: "Congress shall make no law
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respecting an establishment of religion." The agency
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prohibited from acting is the national legislature;
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what it is prevented from doing is passing any law
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"respecting" an establishment of religion. In other
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words, Congress was forbidden to legislate at all
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concerning church establishment--either for or against.
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It was prevented from setting up a national established
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church; equally to the point, it was prevented from
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interfering with the established churches in the
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states.
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Shield Becomes Sword
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Though this history is blurred or ignored, it is no
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secret, and its general features are sometimes
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acknowledged by liberal spokesmen. It may be conceded,
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for example, that the First Amendment was intended to
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be a prohibition against the federal government. But
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that guarantee was supposedly broadened by the
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Fourteenth Amendment, which "applied" the Bill of
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Rights against the states. Thus what was once
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prohibited only to the federal government is now also
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prohibited to the states.
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Here we meet the Orwellian concept of "applying" a
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protection of the states as a weapon against them--
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using the First Amendment to achieve the very thing it
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was intended to prevent. The legitimacy of this
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reversal has been convincingly challenged by such
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constitutional scholars as Raoul Berger, Lino Graglia,
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and James McClellan. But for present purposes, let us
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simply assume the First Amendment restrictions on
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Congress were "applied" against the states. What then?
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What did this prohibit?
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One thing we know for sure is that it did not
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prohibit officially sponsored prayer. As we have seen,
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Congress itself engaged in officially sponsored, tax-
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supported prayer, complete with paid official
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chaplains, from the very outset-- and continues to do
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so to this day. Indeed, in one of the greatest ironies
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of this historical record, we see the practice closely
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linked with passage of the First Amendment--supplying a
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refutation of the Court's position that is as
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definitive as could be wished.
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The language that had been debated off and on
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throughout the summer and then hammered out in
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conference finally passed the House of Representatives
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on September 24, 1789. On the very next day, the self-
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same House of Representatives passed a resolution
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calling for a day of national prayer and thanksgiving.
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Here is the language the House adopted: "We acknowledge
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with grateful hearts the many single favors of Almighty
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God, especially by affording them an opportunity
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peacefully to establish a constitutional government for
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their safety and happiness."
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The House accordingly called on President
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Washington to issue a proclamation designating a
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national day of prayer and thanksgiving (the origin of
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our current legal holiday). This was Washington's
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response:
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It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the
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providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be
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grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore
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His protection and favor....That great and glorious
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Being who is the beneficent author of all the good
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that was, that is, or that ever will be, that we
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may then unite in rendering unto Him our sincere
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and humble thanks for His kind care and protection
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of the people.
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Such were the official sentiments of Congress and
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the president immediately after the adoption of the
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First Amendment. These statements are far more
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doctrinal and emphatic than the modest prayer
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schoolchildren are forbidden to recite because it
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allegedly violates the First Amendment. If we accept
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the reasoning of the modern Court, as Robert Cord
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observes, both Congress and George Washington violated
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the intended meaning of the First Amendment from its
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inception.
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The more logical conclusion, of course, is that
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Congress knew much better what it meant by the language
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adopted the preceding day than does our self-
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consciously evolving Court two centuries later. And in
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the view of Congress, there was nothing either in law
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or in logic to bar it from engaging in officially
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sponsored, tax-supported prayer, then or ever. It
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follows that the amendment can't possibly bar the
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states from doing likewise.
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Madison and Jefferson
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To all this, the liberal answer is, essentially: James
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Madison. Whatever the legislative history, we are
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informed, Madison in his subsequent writings took
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doctrinaire positions on church-state separation, and
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these should be read into the First Amendment. This,
|
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however, gets the matter topsy-turvy. Clearly, if the
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Congress that passed the First Amendment, and the
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states that ratified it, didn't agree with Madison's
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more stringent private notions, as they surely didn't,
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then these were not enacted. It is the common
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understanding of the relevant parties, not the ideas of
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a single individual, especially those expressed in
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other settings, that defines the purpose of a law or
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constitutional proviso.
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Furthermore, the Court's obsession with the
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individual views of Madison is highly suspect. It
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contrasts strangely with judicial treatment of his
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disclaimers in the House debate, and of his opinions on
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other constitutional matters. Madison held strict-
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constructionist views on the extent of federal power,
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arguing that the Constitution reserved undelegated
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authority to the states. These views of Madison are
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dismissed entirely by the Court. Thus we get a curious
|
|
inversion: Madison becomes the Court's authority on the
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First Amendment, even though the notions he later
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voiced about this subject were not endorsed by others
|
|
involved in its adoption. On the other hand, he isn't
|
|
cited on the residual powers of the states, even though
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his statements on this topic were fully endorsed by
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other supporters of the Constitution and relied on by
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|
the poeple who voted its approval. It is hard to find a
|
|
thread of consistency in this--beyond the obvious one
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of serving liberal ideology.
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As peculiar as the Court's selective use of Madison
|
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is its resort to Jefferson. The anomaly here is that
|
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Jefferson was not a member of the Constitutional
|
|
Convention, or of the Congress that considered the Bill
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|
of Rights, or of the Virginia ratifying convention. But
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he had strongly separationist views (up to a point) and
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had worked with Madison for disestablishment and
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religious freedom in Virginia. For the Court, this
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proves the First Amendment embodied Jefferson's
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statement in 1802, in a letter to the Baptists of
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Connecticut, about a "wall of separation."
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Again we pass over the Lewis Carroll logic--in this
|
|
case deducing the intent of an amendment adopted in
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1789 from a letter written 13 years later by a person
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who had no official role in its adoption. Rather than
|
|
dwelling on this oddity, we shall simply go to the
|
|
record and see what Jefferson actually said about the
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First Amendment and its religion clauses. In his second
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inaugural address, for example, he said:
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In matters of religion, I have considered that its
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free exercise is placed by the Constitution
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independent of the powers of the general
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government. I have therefore undertaken on no
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|
occasion to prescribe the religious exercises
|
|
suited to it. But I have left them as the
|
|
Constitution found them, under the direction or
|
|
discipline of state or church authorities
|
|
acknowledged by the several religious societies.
|
|
|
|
Jefferson made the same point a few years later to
|
|
a Presbyterian clergyman, who inquired about his
|
|
attitude toward Thanksgiving proclamations:
|
|
|
|
I consider the government of the United States as
|
|
interdicted from intermeddling with religious
|
|
institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or
|
|
exercises. This results from the provision that no
|
|
law shall be made respecting the establishment of
|
|
religion or the free exercise thereof, but also
|
|
from that which reserves to the states the powers
|
|
not delegated to the United States. Certainly no
|
|
power over religious discipline has been delegated
|
|
to the general government. It must thus rest with
|
|
the states as far as it can be in any human
|
|
authority.
|
|
|
|
The irresistible conclusion is that there was no
|
|
wall of separation between religious affirmation and
|
|
civil government in the several states, nor could the
|
|
First Amendment, with or without the Fourteenth
|
|
Amendment, have been intended to create one. The wall
|
|
of separation, instead, was between the federal
|
|
government and the states and was meant to make sure
|
|
the central authority didn't meddle with the customs of
|
|
local jurisdictions.
|
|
|
|
As a matter of constitutional law, the Court's
|
|
position in these religion cases is an intellectual
|
|
shambles--results-oriented jurisprudence at its most
|
|
flagrant. An even greater scandal is the extent to
|
|
which the Justices have rewritten the official record
|
|
to support a preconceived conclusion: a performance
|
|
worthy of regimes in which history is tailored to the
|
|
interests of the ruling powers. In point of fact,
|
|
America's constitutional settlement--up to and
|
|
including the First Amendment--was the work of people
|
|
who believed in God, and who expressed their faith as a
|
|
matter of course in public prayer and other
|
|
governmental practice.
|
|
|
|
--------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
M. Stanton Evans is chairman of the Education and
|
|
Research Institute and director of the National
|
|
Journalism Center in Washington, D.C. The Center trains
|
|
young, aspiring reporters and boasts alumni at the
|
|
Detroit News, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington
|
|
Post, CNN, C-SPAN, Evans & Novak, the Associated Press,
|
|
plus dozens of journals and newspapers around the
|
|
country.
|
|
|
|
Mr. Evans has also served as managing editor of
|
|
Human Events, associate editor of National Review, and
|
|
editor of the Indianapolis News. For many years a
|
|
syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times, he has
|
|
written seven books, including: Revolt on the Campus,
|
|
The Future of Conservatism: From Taft to Reagan and
|
|
Beyond, and Clear and Present Dangers: A Conservative's
|
|
View of America's Government. This article is adapted
|
|
with permission from his book The Theme Is Freedom:
|
|
Religion, Politics, and the American Tradition
|
|
(Regnery, 1994) and also appeared in the January 23,
|
|
1995 issue of National Review.
|
|
|
|
--------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
"What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?"
|
|
by D. James Kennedy*
|
|
Senior Minister,
|
|
Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church
|
|
and President,
|
|
Coral Ridge Ministries
|
|
|
|
--------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
*With Jerry Newcombe. From What If Jesus Had Never
|
|
Been Born? (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994)
|
|
|
|
--------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Reverend D. James Kennedy also participated in the
|
|
November 1994 CCA, addressing an audience of over
|
|
1,500.
|
|
|
|
--------------------------------------------
|
|
Some people have made transformational changes in one
|
|
department of human learning or in one aspect of human
|
|
life, and their names are forever enshrined in the
|
|
annals of human history. But Jesus Christ, the greatest
|
|
man who ever lived, has changed virtually every aspect
|
|
of human life--and most people don't know it. The
|
|
greatest tragedy of the Christmas holiday each year is
|
|
not so much its commercialization (gross as that is),
|
|
but its trivialization. How tragic it is that people
|
|
have forgotten Him to whom they owe so very much.
|
|
|
|
Jesus says in Revelation 21:5, "Behold, I make all
|
|
things new." (Behold! [idou in Greek]: "Note well,"
|
|
"look closely," "examine carefully.") Everything that
|
|
Jesus Christ touched, He utterly transformed. He
|
|
touched time when He was born into this world; He had a
|
|
birthday, and that birthday utterly altered the way we
|
|
measure time.
|
|
|
|
Someone has said He has turned aside the river of
|
|
ages out of its course and lifted the centuries off
|
|
their hinges. Now, the whole world counts time as
|
|
Before Christ (B.C.) and A.D.
|
|
|
|
Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a
|
|
mustard seed, which is tiny in and of itself; but, when
|
|
fully grown, it provides shade and a resting place for
|
|
many birds. This parable certainly applies to an
|
|
individual who embraces Christ; it also applies to
|
|
Christianity in the world.
|
|
|
|
Christianity's roots were small and humble--an
|
|
itinerant rabbi preached and did miracles for three and
|
|
a half years around the countryside of subjugated
|
|
Israel. And today there are more than 1.8 billion
|
|
professing believers in Him found in most of the
|
|
nations on earth! There are tens of millions today who
|
|
make it their life's aim to serve Him alone.
|
|
|
|
Emperors and governors were the men with power in
|
|
Christ's day. But now their bodies rot in their
|
|
sepulchers, and their souls await the Final Judgment.
|
|
They have no followers today. No one worships them. No
|
|
one serves them or awaits their bidding.
|
|
|
|
Despite its humble origins, the Church has made
|
|
more changes on earth for the good than any other
|
|
movement or force in history.
|
|
|
|
But, the salvation of souls is the primary goal of
|
|
the spread of Christianity. All other benefits are
|
|
basically just by-products of what Christianity has
|
|
often brought when applied to daily living. When Jesus
|
|
took upon Himself the form of man, He imbued mankind
|
|
with a dignity and inherent value that had never been
|
|
dreamed of before. Whatever Jesus touched or whatever
|
|
He did transformed that aspect of human life. Many
|
|
people will read about the innumerable small incidents
|
|
in the life of Christ while never dreaming that those
|
|
casually mentioned "little" things were to transform
|
|
the history of humankind.
|
|
|
|
--------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
D. James Kennedy is the most listened to Presbyterian
|
|
minister in the world today. His television and radio
|
|
broadcasts are heard in 25,000 cities and towns across
|
|
America. He heads up five major ministries. He is the
|
|
senior minister of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church,
|
|
which has over 8,000 members and has been cited by
|
|
Decision magazine as one of the top five churches in
|
|
the nation. He is the president of Evangelism Explosion
|
|
International, which trains laymen in evangelism in 190
|
|
countries and 300 denominations. He also oversees the
|
|
Westminster Academy, a K-12 school for over 1000
|
|
students, and is chancellor of Knox Theological
|
|
Seminary. Finally, he is president of Coral Ridge
|
|
Ministries, a national network television ministry that
|
|
was launched in 1978. Its one-hour telecast is
|
|
broadcast on more than 470 stations and five cable
|
|
networks and is also broadcast overseas. Its radio
|
|
program is regularly heard on over 500 stations.
|
|
|
|
###
|
|
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|
|
End of this issue of Imprimis, On Line; Information
|
|
about the electronic publisher, Applied Foresight,
|
|
Inc., is in the file, IMPR_BY.TXT
|
|
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
|
|
|