Interpretations of the Separation of Church and State Continue
By Jessica Muni, 9th grade
*2006 Role Models Today Writing Contest Winner*
June 27, 2006

Separation of church and state is an issue that has been much disputed in our nation.  It has been argued that the Founding Fathers did not desire to include God or any religion in the governance of our country.  To see what these men truly believed, it is best to look at why they risked everything to found America and examine first-hand their words.

The Founding Fathers had been seeking religious freedom, which largely impacted their decision to leave England.  King Henry VIII had recently broken from the Roman Catholic Church and formed the Church of England.  In doing so, he tried to force everyone to follow his way of worship.  However, many people refused.  They were persecuted and, as a result, eventually left England.  After many trials and tribulations, they finally came to America where they could enjoy the liberty they desired.

Because obtaining religious freedom was such an arduous ordeal, the Founding Fathers had no desire for history to repeat itself in that regard.  They recognized the fact that when government rules over religion, the consequences are extremely detrimental to a free society, as they had previously experienced in England.  The Founding Fathers did not, however, believe that God should be left out of government.  To illustrate, John Adams, second president of the United States, wrote that” [I]t is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand” (1).  These words appeared in a letter to Zabdiel Adams in June of 1776, not long before John Adams joined many other men to sign the Declaration of Independence, the foundation of American freedom.

Furthermore, the Founding Fathers believed strongly in each state having an individualized constitution.  Territories would create such a document and submit it for approval as part of the process to be admitted as a state.  The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania said in 1824 during Updegraph v. Commonwealth that “No free government now exists in the world, unless where Christianity is acknowledged, and is the religion of the country” (2).  And what Supreme Court rules against its own constitution?  It is clear, then, that the statement made by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is in accordance with the constitution of the commonwealth, meaning that it believed religion to be an asset to government.  In that regard, if the Founding Fathers believed in “separation of church and state,” they would have denied Pennsylvania the right of admittance as a state.

Moreover, the Founding Fathers, would not have been faced with the seemingly simple task of denying just one state.  If they truly believed in “separation of church and state,” they would have denied every single state in America.  From Alabama to Wyoming, every one of the fifty states included God in their original constitutions.  For example, the original constitution of Massachusetts, written in 1780, includes in the preamble the following statement: “We … the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe … in the course of His Providence, an opportunity, and devoutly imploring His direction …” (3).

Since the Founding Fathers knew that Americans would include God in their own states’ constitutions, Founders saw little need to address religion in the federal constitution.  For that reason, the only statement regarding religion in the U.S. Constitution is found in the First Amendment:  “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (4).  Fisher Ames, who framed the First Amendment, said that “Our liberty depends on our education, our laws, and habits … it is founded on morals and religion…” (5).  If the writer of the First Amendment himself believed that “our liberty depends on … religion,” then how could he possibly agree with so-called separation of church and state?  And, furthermore, why would he supposedly write such a statement into our nation’s Constitution, the most influential law document in America?

The modern interpretation of “separation of church and state” is, therefore, one that contradicts the intentions of the Founding Fathers.  When we consider their words and the reasons they began America, it can be seen that their desires are in stark contract to the current view of what is needed to ensure a free nation.  Americans should not forget their Founding Fathers nor ignore the wisdom and faith of the men who pledged their lives to guarantee freedom to the country that they so loved.

• Adams, John. The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States.  Adams, Charles Frances, ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 1854. Vol. IX, p. 401, to Zabdiel Adams on June 21, 1776.

• Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1824. Undegraph v. Commonwealth; 11 Serg. & R. 393, 406 (Sup.Ct.Penn 1824).)

• Constitution of the State of Massachusetts. 1780. Preamble

• Constitution of the United States of America. First Amendment.

• Ames, Fisher. An Oration on the Sublime Virtues of General George Washington.  Boston: Young & Minns, 1800.

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