The Principle of Separation of Church and State is in the Constitution

As Dawn Taylor correctly states in her letter of Dec. 20, the phrase “separation of church and state” does not appear in either the U.S. Constitution as first ratified, or in any of its amendments. (Thomas Jefferson used those words, writing in strong support of the principle, in his famous 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists.) The phrase’s absence is taken to imply that no such principle exists, having been invented in modern times by the courts or activist liberals. But this doesn’t mean that the principle isn’t embodied in the Constitution, or recognized by the Founding Fathers, any more than the absence of the exact phrase “right to privacy” or “right to a fair trial” implies that these basic civil rights don’t exist. During the drafting of the Constitution, attempts to codify a relation between government and religion were consistently voted down. Still, the Constitution’s silence about these principles led several states (Connecticut and Rhode Island) and authors (notably James Madison) to demand a more explicit “bill of rights.” Conditions for a fair trial are, as a result, spelled out in the Sixth Amendment; conditions for separation of church and state are spelled out in the First Amendment, in which government is told, in effect, to keep out of the business of religion – neither aiding nor hindering it.  These amendments are, of course, part of the Constitution. We’ve all benefited from the separation of church and state. Religion and religious diversity flourish in America far more than in countries where religion has a formal presence in government. Madison himself observed in 1819 that religious interest and practice had been “manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the state.”  Individuals are free to express their religious beliefs, as well as base their political practices on them. This is one wall that should not be torn down.

Ira Fischler, President

Gainesville Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State [au-gainesville.org]