What would Jefferson do?
John Brummett at the Arkansas News Bureau has a good commentary on the fact that the Arkansas state House of Representatives formally declared that it doesn't believe in the separation of church and state. The resolution to accept the constitutional principle of separation of church and state got only 39 out of 100 votes. Brummett says their negative vote was based on 2 contentions:Brummett concludes by sayingNeither point is altogether wrong.
- Actually, there is no expressed church-state separation in the Constitution. There only is a prohibition against government's establishing a specific religion and a guarantee of freedom of religion. Church-state separation came up later in a letter by Thomas Jefferson to church people saying the nation needed to keep a "wall of separation" between church and government.
- The nation was founded on Christian principles and no one can reasonably expect citizen legislators to make laws without applying their own religious underpinning.
To keep all these Americans free, it's best to collect their principles in a big stew pot from which we can scoop out a just, wise and general secular government.
posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 7:22 AM
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