PrintJune 1, 2008
Who Separates Church from State?
The phrase "wall of separation between church and state" has become a lightning rod for heated debate. This phrase is from Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists in Connecticut and is understood by some to reflect the reasoning behind the establishment clause of the First Amendment. What is overlooked in almost all of the debates is that, logically speaking, the "wall of separation" is one thing if it is built from (and viewed from) the perspective of the people or the church. It is quite another if it is built from (and viewed from) the perspective of the legal system or the state. In a free republic, the wall of separation between church and state can only be built by the people or the "church."[i] It cannot be built by the state. Here are Jefferson's words to the Baptists in Danbury: I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an...(Read Full Article)
