"The modern doctrine of the separation
of church and state was not followed by the founders of our nation. What we see today is
'brand new' in this country. Separation of church and state was not held to nor ever
practiced by the men who wrote the Constitution and who ruled this country in the first
100 years."
|
--
Rev. J. Steven Wilkins |
Of the 13 colonies, 9 had an official state church. *
Thomas Jefferson [around 1802] recommended at one point that
students at the University of Virginia be allowed to meet on campus to pray and worship
together; and if need be, he said, to meet together with their professors and pray. *
Thomas Jefferson was the author of the first plan of public
education adopted for the city of Washington D.C., which included among other things, the
Bible and Isaac Watts' Hymnal as the principle books that would be used to teach reading
in the public schools of Washington D.C. *
The Constitution of Delaware said this [paraphrased]: While
recognizing that nobody should be compelled to attend religious worship...it is the duty
of all men frequently to assemble together for public worship of the "Author of the
universe." *
In virtually every state, public office holders were
required to affirm their belief in Biblical teachings. The Delaware Constitution
prescribes this formal oath, "I do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus
Christ, His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, on God blessed forevermore; and I do
acknowledge the Holy Scriptures in the Old and New Testament to be given by divine
inspiration." *
Maryland required an oath in the belief of the Christian religion
for every state officer. *
In 1777, the Continental Congress ordered 22,000 Bibles to be
distributed in this country, "so that the people would be well-supplied with the
political textbook of this nation."*
 |
Legal
rulings |
Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States -- 1892 Our laws and our
institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of
mankind... ...It is impossible that it should be otherwise and in this sense and to
this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian.
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--
NOTE: Quoted 87 past legal precedents to back
this up |
Vidal v. Girard -- 1844 -- Why may not the Bible,
and especially the New Testament be read and taught as a divine revelation in the schools?
Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from
the New Testament.
Runkel v. Winemiller -- 1796 -- By our form of government, the
Christian religion is the established religion... ...and all sects and denominations
of Christians are placed upon the same and equal footing.
House Judiciary Committee, Mar. 27, 1854:
Had the people, during the Revolution, had
any suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity that revolution would have been
strangled in its cradle...
Everson v. Board of Education, 1947 -- The First Amendment has
erected a wall of separation between church and state. That wall must be kept high and
impregnable.
Engel v. Vitale -- June 25, 1962 -- Removed prayer from school.
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--
NOTE: 0 precedents (not one past legal
case) used to decide this case. |
|
Notable
Quotes |
"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers,
and it is the duty ... of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their
rulers." (1816)
|
--
First chief justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court, John Jay |
"I believe no one can read the history of our
country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Savior have from the
beginning been our guiding geniuses ... Whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia
... or to the Charter of New England ... or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay ... or to
the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut ... the same objective is present ... a Christian
land governed by Christian principles. I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being
because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it: freedom
of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the
sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people
... I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like
also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country."
|
-- [Liberal] Supreme Court chief justice, Earl Warren |
"... Let me live according to those holy rules
which Thou hast this day prescribed in Thy holy word ... Direct me to the true object,
Jesus Christ the way, the truth and the life. Bless, O Lord, all the people of this
land."
"Reason and experience both forbid us to expect
that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and
religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." "We
have no government armed with power capable of contending with passions unbridled by
morality and religion." "Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is
religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can
securely stand."
"Can the liberties of a nation be thought
secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people
that these liberties are of the gift of God?"
"No power over the freedom of religion [is]
delegated to the United States by the Constitution."
"We have staked the whole future of American
civilization, not on the power of government...[but] upon the capacity of each and every
one of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."
"All must admit that the reception of the
teachings of Christ results in the purest patriotism, in the most scrupulous fidelity to
public trust, and in the best type of citizenship."
"In this actual world, a churchless community,
a community where men have abandoned and scoffed at, or ignored their religious needs, is
a community on the rapid down-grade."
"America was born a Christian nation. America
was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived
from the revelations of the Holy Scripture."
"They [the Founding Fathers] were intent upon
establishing a Christian commonwealth in accordance with the principle of self-government.
They were an inspired body of men. It has been said that God sifted the nations that He
might send choice grain into the wilderness ... Who can fail to see it in the hand of
Destiny? Who can doubt that it has been guided by a Divine Providence?"
* Based on both the notes from America: The First 350 Years, by Rev. J. Steven
Wilkins, and personal notes taken while listening to America:
The First 350 Years.
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