THE MODERN MYTH OF SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

It has become fashionable to re-write our history in order to advance ones agenda to fundamentally change the original intents of the founding fathers for these United States. The greatest attack upon our country’s heritage is the underlying Christian foundation designed by the founders. The Judeo-Christian morals were to be the basis for our laws and the orderly administration of our government, in order to ensure liberty and freedom for all of our citizens.

It has been assumed that the founding fathers of our country were all Christians. However, more precisely, the representatives of the original 13 colonies were affiliated with a variety of Christian denominations as well as non-Christian religions. The New England colonists were largely Puritans, who led very strict lives. The Middle colonists were a mixture of religions, including Quakers (led by William Penn), Catholics, Lutherans, and Jews. The Southern colonists had a mixture of religions as well, including Baptists and Anglicans. The founding fathers desired to assure these religious men and women would be unhindered in their worship of God, then as well as for future generations.

The founding fathers believed that the federal government should rule with a moral compass to guide their enactment of laws and the administration of their governmental responsibilities. Their moral compass was contained in the inspired pages of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures. The “wall of separation” between Church and state, which Thomas Jefferson mentioned, was not an appeal for a government guided by the whim of the majority devoid of Christian principles. It was so that the federal government would refrain from the error of the British Crown which deemed the Church of England to be the only acceptable religion for the British peoples, thus restricting individual rights to worship God as one considered fitting. Also, the “wall of separation” was never intended to eradicate Christian principles as the foundation for the moral guidelines of the United States.

Thus it can be safely stated that the founding fathers believed that all men should live under established law in an orderly and moral society, and that this could be realized by permeating the fabric of our culture with the values of the Judeo-Christian ethic.

This can be supported in a number of instances: (1) in the opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, the phrase “Nature’s God” demonstrates the framer’s belief that there is a Creator and that even nature is subject to Him; (2) beginning the second paragraph, the statement is made “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” This is an obvious declaration that the framers believed that all men have a Creator regardless of one’s religious affiliation OR non-belief. Those who choose not to believe in God are responsible to live under the laws of the land. By deliberate intent, they are unable to escape from the moral foundations designed by the founders in order to maintain an orderly and moral society.

The founders knew that their authority was established by God (Romans 13:1), and that they were to govern in accordance with God’s standards. The Federal government – this includes all three branches of our government – has the responsibility before God to govern based upon the precepts of His Word, and to maintain high moral standards at all costs, even when challenged by an anarchical majority.

Note that on July 30, 1956, just 60 years ago and 180 years since our country's establishment, our Federal government recognized the rightful place of God in our society. On that day, President Eisenhower and a Joint Resolution of Congress declared “IN GOD WE TRUST” the national motto of the United States. 
It is painfully obvious how far afield our Federal government has led us over the past 60 years.

© 2022 David M. Rossi