Today's...
"separation of church and state"
...not the intent of America's founding documents
...nor intended by the founders!


Amendment I
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances."

1.  Words "separation of church and state" are not in the First Amendment.

2.  The 90 founding fathers never mentioned even once during the framing of the First Amendment (June 7 - September 25, 1789) a "separation of church and state."  (See Congressional Record.)

3.  The same day Congress passed the First Amendment (Sept. 25, 1789); they approved a resolution requesting President George Washington to proclaim "...a day of public thanksgiving and prayer...."

4.  Thomas Jefferson wrote this phrase, "thus building a wall of separation between church and State...." on January 1, 1802, (11 years after the First Amendment was ratified) in a private letter to the Danbury Baptist Association to assure them that the federal government could not and would not try to establish a national denomination.  Jefferson was an ambassador in France during the time of the Constitutional Convention.  However, while President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson was
also made president of the Washington, DC public school system in which he placed the Bible and the Isaac Watt's hymnal as the two primary reading texts!  Jefferson's phrase was used only twice by the U.S. Supreme Court from 1802 to 1947; and it was not until 1947 (Everson case) that it was taken out of context and given a meaning never intended (first use was 1878 in Reynolds case).
 

5.  Applies to Congress, not the states.

6.  First English language Bible printed in America was by Congress in 1782 "for use of schools."

7.  The founding fathers gave speeches, read from the Bible, and prayed at public school graduations.

8.  The U.S. Capitol was used as a church building by the founding fathers.

9.  Founding father judges had prayer in their court rooms with the jurors.
 
10.  A view from the Washington Monument forms a perfect cross.

 
Northwest Ordinance
(requirements for statehood).
SECTION 13, ARTICLE III
"Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."

(Passed from July 17 - August 7, 1789; during the midst of the framing of the First Amendment, which was June 7 - September 25, 1789.  Please note that the founding fathers used the word religion to mean Christianity.)
 

 
The Constitution of the United States
Preamble
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Article I, Section 7
"If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law."
 
Article IV, Section 4
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government,..."
 
Article VI
"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
 
Article VII
"DONE in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth."
 
(Dated recognizing the birth of Jesus Christ:  Anno Domini/Christmas!)
 
Declaration of Independence
"...Laws of Nature and of Natures's God entitle them..." "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." "We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions..." "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence..." ************************************************************************************************
"It is impossible to build sound constitutional doctrine on a mistaken understanding of Constitutional history....  The establishment clause [of the First Amendment] has been expressly freighted with Jefferson's misleading metaphor for nearly forty years....  There is simply no historical foundation for the proposition that the Framers intended to build a wall of separation [between church and state]....  The recent court decisions are in no way based on either the language or the intent of the Framers." ************************************************************************************************
The majority of the information contained in "Today's...separation of church and state...!" was learned about and derived from resources by David Barton of WallBuilders (817-441-6044), Stephen McDowell of the Providence Foundation (804-978-
4535), John Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute (804-978-3888), William Federer of AmeriSearch (314-621-6446), and Rus Walton and John Eidsmoe of the Plymouth Rock Foundation (1-800-210-1620):
 
-Compliments of-
"America's Christian Heritage Week" Ministry, P.O. Box 382 White Sulphur Springs, WV 24986 ph:304-536-9029
 Visit our website at: http://www.achw.org