History of the Phrase
“Separation of Church and State”
The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America states
that “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 a redress of
grievances.” This has often been referred to as separation of church and state, despite
the fact that that phrase is located nowhere in the United States Constitution. ... ” (2)
Jefferson replied to their letter saying:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that legitimate powers 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 should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; thus building a wall of separation between church and state. ...
From this we get our phrase, separation of church and state, but its meaning today does not have Jefferson’s intended meaning. ... ”(1) While a state legislator, Jefferson proclaimed days of thanksgiving and prayer. He even approved a fine to the clergy for not following the state proclamations. ... The First Amendment clearly erected a barrier between the federal government and religion on a state level. If a state chose to have no religion, or to have an established religion, the federal government had no jurisdiction one way or the other. ...
The way Jefferson used the “wall of separation between church and state” metaphor has been twisted over the years. In its proper context, the phrase represents a clear expression of state independence. The United States Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist even said this: “The “wall of separation between church and State” is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging.
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