“The morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of
the people, have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the
church from the State.”—James Madison
"The United States of America should have a foundation free from the influence of
clergy."—George Washington
“Persecution is not an original feature in any
religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions
established by law.” ― Thomas Paine
“I contemplate with sovereign
reverence that act of the whole American people (the First Amendment) which
declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of
separation between Church & State.”—Thomas Jefferson
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There are plenty more such quotes, but they won’t
impress anyone determined to believe that separation of church and state is
defended only by a small vocal group.
Most people haven’t noticed how many believers in God, including a
surprising number of Christians are for the absolute separation of church and
state. Baptists have been among the most
stalwart supporters, and it was in their defense that Jefferson created his now famous “wall of separation” analogy, in 1802,
expounding on the meaning of the First Amendment.
John Leland, a Baptist minister from Massachusetts, supported Madison against Patrick Henry’s attempt to establish state
support for religion in Virginia. Leland said, “If all the souls in a government were saints of God, (and) should they
be formed into a society by law, that society could not be a Gospel Church, but a creature of
state." That Baptist position
survives to this day in the American Baptist Convention, which resolved in
1963, and reiterated in 1983 and 1993, “that separation of church and state is
central to our American heritage; that it has made possible a measure of
freedom not previously achieved under any other system; that it is indispensable
to our national policy of equal rights for all [religions], and special
privileges for no religion.” Freewill Baptists, American/Northern
Baptists, Bible Baptists, General Baptists, National Baptists, Primitive
Baptists as well as Methodists hold similar positions.
Where then does the virulent and vocal
opposition to the mere mention of separation of church and state come from? From the Southern Baptists, who split from
their brethren in 1845 in order to defend the biblical sanctity of
slavery. They are now the dominant
evangelical leaders opposing separation of church and state, even though in
1963 their Baptist Faith and Message said:
“God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the
doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not
contained in it. Church and state should be separate.”
It wasn’t until 1995 that the Southern Baptist
Convention voted to condemn its historic support for slavery and failure to
confront racism in the South.
Adding "under God" to the Pledge of
Allegiance seems like such a small thing, but it is the seed of what can become
a dangerous violation of the separation principle. And what is the
motivation behind it but an attempt at indoctrination, after all. President
Eisenhower, when signing the bill to add it to the Pledge (and also "In
God We Trust" to paper money, making it the country's second moto with E
Pluribus Unum), said, "From this day forward, the millions of our school
children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural
school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty. ...
In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly
strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most
powerful resource, in peace or in war."
Spiritual weapon indeed.
