“Wall of separation” on solid ground.
Today we honor one of America’s preeminent freethinkers, Thomas Jefferson. It was on this day in 1786 that the Virginia Assembly passed into law his “Bill on Religious Freedom” that laid the foundation for his greatest legacy, the “wall of separation between church and state.”
While Jefferson is a hero to secularists, he was not our first separationist. His wall was first imagined more than a hundred years earlier by Roger Williams, founder of America’s first Baptist Church. Williams described a “hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world.” To him, matters of the church were “too high and holy and thus beyond the competence of the state.”
Whatever the reasoning and whatever our religious belief, America’s religious freedom is worthy of celebration and preservation. The wall needs ongoing maintenance. One way this is done is through dialogue with those whom we disagree. By sitting down together and talking, we can begin to understand how religious freedom is differently perceived by those of differing religious perspectives.
When discussing religious freedom, I often hear that “we have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.” This “zinger” implies that only the rights of religious people are guaranteed. It ignores the most fundamental part of our First Amendment and does so at a time when society is becoming more and more secular.
Today, nearly one in four Americans answer surveys about their religious beliefs with the last option on the list, “None of the above.”
No one forces them to go to worship services — except maybe their parents before they reach the “age of reason” or the age of resistance. They are not compelled to profess a belief in God — unless they are running for elective office. And the idea that they should pay taxes to support someone else’s house of worship is unheard of — until an “act of God” blows through and hurricane relief funds are up for grabs. Maybe they are not as free from religion as they thought after all.
Our Constitution’s First Amendment makes it clear that we have freedom from religion. It is right there in the first 10 words and reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The Supreme Court understands the non-Establishment Clause to mean government is prohibited from preferring one religion over another and from preferring religion over non-religion.
It was only after our Constitutional Framers guaranteed freedom from religion that they did the same for freedom of religion. The second clause of the First Amendment is the part everyone remembers. That is the Free Exercise Clause, and it ensures government will not “prohibit … free exercise” of religion.
How can you exercise the religion of your choosing if government chooses for you?
Occasionally pious politicians, uninformed civil servants or overzealous citizens assume their right to “free exercise” means they have a right to use government resources to promote a religious event, support religious organizations or coerce participation in rituals such as prayer. But no such right exists. The nonEstablishment Clause was expressly designed to prevent the machinery of government from being used for the benefit of the church, synagogue and mosque.
We all agree that a government made up of, by and for the people should never pick winners and losers when it comes to religion. For this reason alone, no matter our religious belief, no matter whether we believe in god or not, we are all stakeholders in the ongoing conversations about religious freedom and we should all be sure that the only thing sacred on government property is Jefferson’s wall.
No one forces anyone to go to worship services — except maybe parents before a child reaches the age of resistance.