Exploring the Social Imagination

Monday, August 10, 2015

Response to Comments Regarding Leftist Fantasy of the Separation of Church and State


To those readers who obviously misread the post about separation of church and state (it is suggested to read it again), sadly those readers have self placed blinders. It was thought to have been made perfectly clear that the First Amendment does not use the wording 'separation of church and state'...there is no such statement in the Constitution. However, it has been interpreted that the First Amendment does say that. Some people think it means that the founders called for a separation of church and state and that government has the right to intervene in religion. It does not.

What the First Amendment does do is protect the freedom to be religious and to practice a religion. It prohibits government from establishing any religion and interfering in the free exercise of.

 "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise therefore..."

However, one can see a possible misunderstanding when reading the post... Looking at the misnomer of the separation of church and state as being written in the Constitution will help us illiterate the reprobate. It is not mentioned in the Constitution. No was it ever. People have been led to think it is in the Constitution through propaganda to uneducated masses. What does the Constitution say? It says that government shall not make any laws regarding religious beliefs and practice. The government cannot start a religion or make any laws affecting people's religious practice and world view. The government must stay out of religion entirely even if they don't like what is being said.

What is the misunderstanding that one may have gotten from the post...? That the First Amendment was misunderstood. The wording 'separation of church and state' is not used in the Constitution and that is what was posted. It was explained that the Constitution does not explicitly provide for any religion and thus keeps religion free from the grasp of an 'institutionalized' body of people = government.

Is there then a separation of church and state. No and yes. It is not explicitly written that there is. However, upon sound libertarian interpretation one immediately knows that the government is ordered to stay out of the church - separation of church and state.  It is written in such a way that anyone who values liberty can clearly and simply read that the people retain the upper hand. The First Amendment is for the protection of the people and their beliefs from institutionalized government- a government that through its elected power takes its authority to mean total control over people's lives/beliefs.

The founders meant that institutionalized government cannot intervene in people's lives when it comes to faith - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibit the free exercise thereof....

When we read the First Amendment correctly, we understand that it means that government cannot create a religion or become one; therefore, the First Amendment actually allows religion of and by the people to be the highest authority in their own (men/women's) lives, not government and that is the main point which was expressed.

Only one response had it right and deserves to be posted...

The entire point of ensuring that the government cannot influence religion was borne out of the historical experience of Europe where the ruling authorities were also the arbiters of faith. The experience of the founders was that the citizenry had the right and obligation to influence public policy based upon their faith while government had no authority to do so. To suggest that faith and public policy were to be completely separated for the purpose of 'better government' is nonsense invented by humanists to secularize the public square and is a direct violation of both the letter and spirit of the Constitution.  ~ JTG

It is the leftist that wants to have government as the higher authority... apologies for misunderstandings

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