No Official Religion
Though our founders considered themselves Christian, most of them were not members of an organized church. They came to the new land to escape religious persecution. This is why they wanted to be sure there was no official religion everybody must practice. It is not happenstance that the word "God" appears nowhere in the Constitution.
President James Madison said:
Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not. Such a government will be best supported by protecting every citizen in the enjoyment of his religion with the same equal hand which protects his person and his property; by neither invading the equal rights of any sect, nor suffering any sect to invade those of another."
President George Washington said:
"And, here, I am persuaded, you will permit me to observe that the path of true piety is so plain as to require but little political direction. To this consideration we ought to ascribe the absence of any regulation, respecting religion, from the Magna Charta of our country."
President John Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli, Article II of which states clearly that we are not a "Christian nation":
"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion, - as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen, - and as the said states never have entered into any war or act of hostitility against any Mohomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."
No Religious Test for Office
The founders were very careful what they said about religion. The Constitution states that "no religious test shall ever be rquired as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." According to Oliver Ellsworth:
"Test laws are useless and ineffectaual, unjust and tyrannical; therefore the Convention have done wisely in excluding this engine of persecution, and providing that no religious test shall ever be required."
Empathy Toward All Religions
The founders believed in more than tolerance. They favored empathy. They thought that instead of denigrating other religions, we should learn about them and work with other religionists in harmony for the common good. John Leland, a Baptist minister who spoke very differently from many ministers today, said:
"The notion of a Christian commonwealth should be exploded forever ... Government should protect every man in thinking and speaking freely, and see that one does not abuse another. The liberty I contend for is more than toleration. The very idea of toleration is despicable; it supposes that some have a pre-eminence above the rest to grant indulgence, whereas all should be equally free, Jews, Turks, Pagans and Christians."
Wall of Separation
Our founders felt so strongly that government should not interfere with anyone's religion that they talked of a "wall of separation." None other than Thomas Jefferson said with reference to the establishment clause:
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative power of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature would 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and state."
For more statements about religious liberty from our founders, see "The Separation of Church and State," edited by Forrest Churc (Beacon Press).
Regardless of what religious extremists say today, we have the statements of our founders that tell us they were firmly against the government getting involved with religion in any way. Do the so-called "originalists" Scalia and Thomas believe in the "wall of separation between church and state"? Does our president? Does his Supreme Court nominee Samel Alito?
Our founders wanted to establish a nation where each individual is free to follow his or her own religious conscience. A free conscience - this is our founder's gift to each of us. Should we allow a man who may take this gift away from us on the Supreme Court?
