Experts and users discuss christian nation, constitution, religion in society, religion and politics: Jefferson, Madison, and the Separation of Church and State
Email addresses will be used to email the information on your behalf and will not be collected, shared, sold, or used by Opposing Views for any other purpose. See our privacy policy.
Jefferson, Madison, and the Separation of Church and State
- From William Martin PhD
By William Martin, Ph.D. - Baker Institute, Rice University
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
Where is it?
Where does "Separation of church and state" come from. The lie told to use as students is that the constitution says it. It does not. Please explain where it comes from. I know where it says " IN GOD WE TRUST" .
- purelabor
September 25, 2008 11:28PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: Yes
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
In God We Trust came much later.
The framers did not include he motto "In God We Trust" anywhere.
Look at the history of "In God We Trust" as a motto of the USA.
http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/currency/in-god-we-trust.shtml
The motto was added onto the money decades after the constitution, in the midst of the Civil War.
Then at the height of the Cold War, in the midst of uninformed attitudes which equated atheism with communism, they were able to make the motto official.
- dsmccoy
October 11, 2008 9:42PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: No
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
It's not anywhere and the founding fathers wanted it that way
The Founding Fathers never intended for the US to be a Christian nation when they founded the US. Some notable quotes:
"Lighthouses are more useful than churches." -Benjamin Franklin
"The Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion ..." Article 11, Treaty of Tripoli
"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man." Thomas Jefferson
The founding fathers had no intention of basing the US off of a specific religion, they only wanted to give people the freedom to practice their own religion. It is unfortunate that people have gotten confused about what the Founding Fathers truly believed.
- chuckly74
April 6, 2009 10:13AM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: No
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
No religion in goverment
I am so sick and tired of people claiming this is a christian nation . Were many of our founders Christians?..........well yes,..........and then again, many were not. They understood the danger of combining reliion and government...simply a recipe for disaster. Of course if your religion is the majority religion, I guess you feel O.K. But what if it isn't........or what if it is today, but not 20, 30,40, 50, or 100 years from now.
But you know this country was founded with slavery in place. And since that is the case, I suppose we should reestablish that...........The whole argument justifying religion is so absurd.
- Rob
May 17, 2009 11:10PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: No
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.