Your view: A new morning

In a recent letter to the editor from Gregory Sanders of Springfield, a letter by Thomas Jefferson written to the Danbury Baptists was cited as evidence that Jefferson agreed with the current liberal interpretation of the Establishment Clause. I feel this is academically dishonest.

What did Jefferson mean when he penned the phrase "separation of Church and State"? Did he mean that public schools and courthouses were forbidden to post the Ten Commandments? Did he mean that school boards cannot require the teaching of Creation Science or Intelligent Design? Did he mean cities cannot display nativity scenes?

The answer is an emphatic NO! Thomas Jefferson and the Founders believed that, "Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion . ." referred to CONGRESS, not states, cities or school boards. People forget that many states required public servants to be Christians long after the Constitution was ratified. For example, all the way up to 1876 the constitution of North Carolina stated, ". . .That no person who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the Christian religion, or the Divine authority of the Old and new Testaments. . .shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the civil department within this State."

Did Jefferson believe this violated the Establishment Clause? The answer is no. Well, how do we know that? Because Jefferson said so. On January 23, 1808, Jefferson wrote: ". . .Certainly no power to prescribe religious exercise, or to assume authority in religious discipline has been delayed to the general (federal) government. It must then rest with the STATES as far as it can be in any human authority." What did the Supreme Court think of this matter? First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay, wrote: "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians as their rulers."

John Jay helped to write the Federalist Papers, which were indispensable to the ratification of the Constitution. Another Supreme Court Justice appointed by President Washington was Samuel Chase. Justice Chase wrote: "By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion; and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed on the same equal footing, and are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty."

On March 27, 1854, Mr. Meacham of the House Committee on the Judiciary gave a report on the true meaning of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause: "At the adoption of the Constitution. . . every State. . .provided as regularly for the support of the Church as well as the support of the Government. . .Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle. At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, not any one sect (denomination). Any attempt to level and discard all religion would have been viewed with universal indignation. THE OBJECT WAS NOT TO SUBSTITUTE JUDAISM OR MOHAMMEDANISM (ISLAM) OR INFIDELITY, but to prevent rivalry among the (Christian) sects to the exclusion of others. It (Christianity) must be considered as the foundation on which the whole structure rests. . ."

Liberal groups such as the ACLU cherry pick and ignore the vast bulk of American History. In recent years, their victories have been very narrow, often decided by a 5-4 margin. In fact, it has been said that "the Constitution means whatever Sandra Day O'Connor says it means on any given Monday." Justice O'Connor sided with the liberals on most Church/State matters , often being the "swing vote".

Samuel Alito has the votes to be confirmed to replace O'Connor. I predict that soon and very soon Christianity will be rightfully elevated to its honored place in public life again. The liberals will fume. They will protest and demonstrate. But the night is over. It is morning in America once again!

Thank you President Bush!

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