Separation of Church and State
The separation of church and state is a jurisprudential and philosophic concept that defines a political distance in the state and religious organizations’ relationship. In concept, the term is in reference to creating a state that is secular (the legally explicit church-state notwithstanding) and disestablishing the alteration of an existing state and church’s formal relationship. The article describes what the separation of state and church means and this paper argues for the same; that separation means that “it is an elemental First Amendment principle that government may not coerce its citizens to support or participate in any religion or its exercise” (Town of Greece vs. Galloway; Lankford and Moore, 2018). Hire our assignment writing services in case your assignment is devastating you.
In any society, the level of civil state separation from the church is determined by the prevalent legal views and the legal structures that define the acceptable and correct relationship between a state and organized religion. The principle of arm’s length proposes that the two interact with each other as independent organizations of each other’s authority. Jefferson, in the letter where he references the First Amendment, stated that he believed with the Baptists that religion is a matter that is between a person and the God a person serves. A person does not owe an account to anyone except to his worship or faith, and the government’s legitimate powers are based not on opinions but actions only. He added that he contemplated ‘sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature’ that no law should respect the establishment of religion or prohibits people from practicing religion hence, building a wall that separates the state from the church.
Arguments against the separation of church and using the First Amendment to defend this are based on twisting words and a backward reading of history. It involves making invisible an important part of the Constitution. The arguments aimed at placing the government at the center of controlling the spiritual lives of Americans. They argue that the idea was that the Constitutional Framers desired a nation that was Christian, where the government acted as an Overseer of the people’s spiritual development by subsidizing churches where they went to worship and reminding people of the religious duties they had. Additionally, the argument goes that ‘Establishment of religion’ refers to the fact there would be no favoring of any single Christian denomination. Instead, official prayers, participation, religious monuments, and the exhortation of faith by church bodies in government were what the ‘original intent’ was. The argument also runs that because the Constitution does not include the words ‘separation of church and state,’ then the documents allow for the two to be merged.
American patriots such as James Madison, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were very skeptical of the ‘revealed religion.’ Having lived through the Enlightenment era of the 18th century, they stressed scientific observation and reason as a way of discovering “Providence” nature, the force behind the world’s creation. Jefferson, for example, took a pair of scissors and cut out every passage in the New Testament that talked about Jesus’ mission and his divine origin. John Adams and Jefferson frequently swapped witticisms on the clergy’s presumption. On June 25th of 1813, Adams wrote that “Every Species of these Christians would persecute Deists, as soon as either Sect would persecute another, if it had unchecked and unbalanced power. Nay, the Deists would persecute Christians, and Atheists would persecute Deists, with as unrelenting Cruelty, as any Christians would persecute them or one another. Know thyself, Human Nature!” (Morrison, 448). When he became president, Adams signed, with the approval of the senate, the 1797 Treaty with Tripoli. The Treaty assured that the government of the US was in no way “founded on the Christian religion.” (Boston, n.d). Additionally, James Madison, the father of the First Amendment and the Constitution, warned over and over again about any attempt at blending Christianity endorsement into the new nation’s law. In his Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, Madison stated that it is clear that the same authority that can establish Christianity and exclude all other religions can also establish a particular sect within Christianity and exclude all other sects (Founders n.d).
The Constitution, unlike the Articles of Confederation, omits, in a very conspicuous manner, the reference to God. The words “separation of church and state” do not appear in the Constitution, but the idea of these is present. In Article VI of the Constitution, the federal and state officials are directed that they are bound by affirmation and oath in supporting the legislation and that no religious test shall ever be required as a determinant for ascending into any US public trust or office. The First Amendment clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This clause refers not only to a church but any religion in general, which cannot be made the nation’s official faith. Additionally, the Free Exercise Clause prohibits Congress from making any laws that curtail the free exercise of a person’s religion.
In conclusion, the concept of political leaders using religion for selfish gains is a danger to society’s peace and to the faithful, which are all embodied in the Constitution. Madison stated that the involvement of government with matters of the church was an implication that the civil judge assumed competency in judging religious truth or may use religion to drive civil policy. Hence, before renegotiating church and state boundaries, the question needs to be asked: why would the people of the US trade a system that has worked well over the years for one that undoubtedly works poorly?
Works Cited
Boston. Rob, (n.d). Joel Barlow And The Treaty With Tripoli A Tangled Tale Of Pirates, A Poet And The True Meaning Of The First Amendment. https://www.au.org/sites/default/files/pdf_documents/joel-barlow-and-the-treaty.pdf
Founders (n.d). Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, [ca. 20 June] 1785
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-08-02-0163
Lankford, James, and Russell Moore. “The real meaning of the separation of church and state.” Time (2018).
Morrison, Jeffry H. “Household Gods: The Religious Lives of the Adams Family.” (2020): 448-449.
Town of Greece vs. Galloway. https://www.oyez.org/cases/2013/12-696
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Question 
Separation of Church and State
Read The Real Meaning of the Separation of Church and State (Links to an external site.https://time.com/5103677/church-state-separation-religious-freedom/)and watch the video. Note the people who are mentioned and what you have learned in this class. You will analyze the material presented in the article and provide an argument for or against the contents of the paper. This is a minimum of 750 words. You will use the course materials to support your argument. Word doc only.
Cases – Free exercise of religion source: https://www.oyez.org/issues/339
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