What Thomas Jefferson Actually Meant on ‘Separation of Church and State’
Thomas Jefferson, America’s third president and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.
It will be the 220th anniversary come this New Years Day of Thomas Jefferson’s response from the White House to the letter he had received from the Danbury Baptists expressing their concern about the protection of religion liberty in America.
Conventional wisdom holds that there are only two possible views about Jefferson’s famous letter and it’s most memorable line about “building a wall of separation between Church & State:”
Either the wall was intended to keep government out of the church, or it was intended to keep the church out of the government.
The truth is, Jefferson’s wall of separation was meant to protect every individual’s freedom of religious practice and expression without fear of penalty or retaliation from the government or any private party.
Such an understanding is at the heart of the following superb animated *video from the First Liberty Institute, based in Plano, Texas. Kelley Shackelford’s troops are leading the charge in the courts across the nation in multiple cases defending genuine religious freedom and that wall of separation:
* For those who seek to review a transcript of the video, click on Watch on YouTube, then click on the three dots in the upper right hand corner beside the Share button, then click on Show Transcript.
I have always understood it to be both. History shows us that there are few more certain ways to corruption then a church wielding government power.
Jefferson and many of the other founders were heavily influence by John Locke, and he specifically talked about the importance of making sure that the clergy don’t have authority in civil affairs. Madison specifically mentioned that “Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Govt.”
I absolutely agree with you that “a church wielding government power” is a sure route to corruption, just as it is to have a government presuming to decide what is approved cosmology.