Informative video! Christian heritage is a private...

2011-05-05T23:08:47.621-05:00

Informative video! Christian heritage is a private Christian school. It supports the home education endeavors of its member families in academic services and programs, achievement tests, accountability to fulfill legal requirements, etc. Thanks a lot...

The principle of separation of church and state is...

2011-05-05T22:41:19.321-05:00

The principle of separation of church and state is derived from the Constitution (1) establishing a secular government on the power of the people (not a deity), (2) saying nothing to connect that government to god(s) or religion, (3) saying nothing to give that government power over matters of god(s) or religion, and (4), indeed, saying nothing substantive about god(s) or religion at all except in a provision precluding any religious test for public office and the First Amendment provisions constraining the government from undertaking to establish religion or prohibit individuals from freely exercising their religions.

James Madison, who had a central role in drafting the Constitution and the First Amendment, confirmed that he understood them to “[s]trongly guard[] . . . the separation between Religion and Government.” Madison, Detached Memoranda (~1820). He made plain, too, that they guarded against more than just laws creating state sponsored churches or imposing a state religion. Mindful that even as new principles are proclaimed, old habits die hard and citizens and politicians could tend to entangle government and religion (e.g., “the appointment of chaplains to the two houses of Congress” and “for the army and navy” and “[r]eligious proclamations by the Executive recommending thanksgivings and fasts”), he considered the question whether these actions were “consistent with the Constitution, and with the pure principle of religious freedom” and responded: “In strictness the answer on both points must be in the negative. The Constitution of the United States forbids everything like an establishment of a national religion.”

While there is controversy about the religiosity of various founders, it is safe to say that many were religious and Christian of one sort or another. Care should be taken, though, not to make too much of the founders’ individual religious beliefs. In assessing the nature of our government, the religiosity of the various founders, while informative, is largely beside the point. Whatever their religions, they drafted a Constitution that plainly establishes a secular government and separates it from religion as noted above. This is entirely consistent with the fact that some founders professed their religiosity and even their desire that Christianity remain the dominant religious influence in American society. Why? Because religious people who would like to see their religion flourish in society may well believe that separating religion and government will serve that end and, thus, in founding a government they may well intend to keep it separate from religion. It is entirely possible for thoroughly religious folk to found a secular government and keep it separate from religion. That, indeed, is just what the founders did.

Barton, by the way, should be taken with a grain of salt. As revealed by the analysis of Chris Rodda and others, zealotry more than fact shapes his work, which is riddled with shoddy scholarship and downright dishonesty. His opening bit in the video, for instance, is a lie. Contrary to Barton's assertions, Congress did not order any Bibles imported or printed; it merely helped a Colonial printer by passing a resolution stating that, based on its chaplain's report, it was satisfied that his edition was accurately printed. See Chris Rodda, Liars for Jesus: The Religious Right's Alternate Version of American History (2006). Rodda presents Barton's claims (including some others repeated in your post), reviews the evidence and explanations he offers, and then shines a bright light on the evidence omitted, misinterpreted, or even made up by Barton, all with documentation and references so complete one can readily assess the facts for one's self without the need to take either Barton's or Rodda's word for it. The irony is that, by knowingly resorting to lies, this would-be champion of a religious right version of history reveals his fears that the real facts fall short of making his case.

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Informative video! Christian heritage is a private...

The principle of separation of church and state is...