1st amendment: Freedom of Religion
Want to hear the truth about the separation of church and state? Take a peek!
Most of us are generally informed when comprehending the rights and freedoms afforded to us Americans. Still, do we fully understand the historicity and the nitty-gritty details of our freedoms?
The very bedrock of our nation. The constitution, the bill of rights, but more specifically, “the first amendment!”
Today we’re going to focus on one part of the first amendment > Freedom of Religion, and how that has formed our way of life! But not just how it has formed our lives. No, we’re also going to look at how it has progressed over the years, how it was intended, vs. What it currently is in today’s twenty-first “modern/ progressive world.”
Let’s look at this little tidbit from Law.cornell.edu/constitution.
"Madison’s original proposal for a bill of rights provision concerning religion read: “The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretence, infringed.” 1 The language was altered in the House to read: “Congress shall make no law establishing religion, or to prevent the free exercise thereof, or to infringe the rights of conscience.” 2 In the Senate, the section adopted read: “Congress shall make no law establishing articles of faith, or a mode of worship, or prohibiting the free exercise of religion. . . .” 3 It was in the conference committee of the two bodies, chaired by Madison, that the present language was written with its somewhat more indefinite “respecting” phraseology.4"
It certainly is a game of phraseology related to the differences between the original proposal and the finalized revision.
One such reason that occurs to me here is that the founding fathers were savvy enough to know that wording matters! And there may come a time in our government and powers where the America the founding fathers set out to create was not the America that may come about in the future and may develop into something completely different than what the founding fathers intended.
I would venture to say we’re there! The laws, the morals, the ethics, and the culture. They are miles apart from what was initially intended. In some ways, the old America is still holding on in certain sects of people, but barely!
When we look at some things that pass for moral and ethical practices today compared to the founding fathers’ time, there are definite pros and cons. But the significant issues are more visible. And for some of us. That’s a big deal… for others; they’re entirely oblivious to what it means to value such things as the sanctity of life, much less what defines life.
We essentially live in a period that the bible referenced in 2 timothy 4:3-4
that states: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
Now you ask, what does this scripture have to do with anything? Well, simple.
When the founding fathers first set out the plans and ideas for this country, they were founded and structured on Judeo-Christian values.
Suppose you look hard enough and continue to dig at historical and documented pieces throughout our nation’s history. You’ll see that we were created with our heavenly father at the forefront of everything.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This sentence is a direct appeal to God that the King of England has stepped outside the boundaries of his “divine right” to rule, and they are invoking the name of God in order to legally accuse the King.”
We see here and a host of other documented references that there’s no actual reason to include this other than to conclude that our founding fathers were deists. Furthermore, we look at yet another hot topic within this document.
“separation of church and state.” <disclaimer: it doesn’t mean what you might think>
Fun fact! The term separation of church and state appears nowhere in the constitution, the bill of rights, or the declaration of independence.
Chew on that for a second or two. The actual origins of that statement or otherwise known reference are from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to “The Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut in 1802.”
Another reference was in a court case *Everson v. Board of Education (1947)*
Erroneously cited Jefferson entirely and utterly contradicts what was explicitly put into the first amendment document.
When factually speaking, Jefferson referenced this concept in the letter he penned to say that Government should stay out of church affairs and not be involved that way!
Which is 100% contradictory to what’s taught in schools and colleges today! Why? Because If you know the truth, you’re more of a threat to the establishment than if you’re such an individual that would take whatever is taught as gospel.
I don’t think you’ll hear much about this pivotal moment in our history. It was after crossing the Delaware river in a volatile storm. New Jersey | Dec 26, 1776
Battle of Trenton.
This was a pivotal moment in the history of our independence!
It was Christmas night, 1776, and Washington made an incredulous attempt at getting ahead in this war for independence. The plan would involve taking his men and crossing the icy Delaware River. If it went sideways, it would be game over for them, essentially nailing their coffin shut. All they had to do was march ten miles into Trenton, New Jersey. That was the easy part, but getting across the icy river would be the X factor. However, history would tell us that they accomplished that and surprised a garrison of 1,500 Hessians. They demolished them in the fight and, a week later, demonstrated they were a force to be reckoned with. When they won the battle again in Princeton, this incredulous plan of Washington’s may have backfired and resulted in the nation we now call America ceasing to exist. Under Washington’s command, he revived the Continental Army and loyalty to Washington himself. This was such an essential piece of knowledge because, contextually speaking, they went through a period of low morale. After having lost multiple battles in this fight for independence
before this. In late 1776 <October>, the Continental Army lost in the “Battle of White Plains.” As well as a Battle at Forts Washington and Lee in November.
Consequently, they were being pursued by the British and had no other action but to retreat across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. With dwindling numbers and a lack of proper supplies, they had been effectively reduced to a couple thousand. Not to mention the soldier’s enlistment was due to expire. However, they summoned one last bit of ignited passion by passing this work of literature around. Thomas Paine’s The American Crisis and following the direction from Washington, henceforth effectively fulfilling the victories mentioned above by listening and following Washington into battle. Had they not followed Washington into battle and trusted his seemingly insane plan... who knows where we would be today as a nation!
Speaking of “pivots,” let’s jump back to a significant aspect of freedom of religion.
*Separation of Church and State.*
First, I’ll provide a little historical and *Factual* context.
But before I do that. Let me say this, in today’s modern world, we have to dig for facts, and by that, I mean doing research individually, fact-checking content, and looking at accurate and factual documents of the time. Not someone’s vested interest or some bought and paid for source. I’m talking about actual complex sources. Factually accurate.
For example, on another level, I recently did an article on a quote from Ben franklin. Come find out, the quote that I had come to know and love was wildly inaccurate. I wanted to base my content around that concept essentially, but as it would turn out. I stumbled across a piece that blew holes the size of Texas in the accuracy of the quote as we know it today. Instead, I pointed the reader toward the source himself. Ben franklin’s memoirs. Where he explained what he meant when he stated the actual quote.
So, why hadn’t I heard this bit referenced more in context to this quote?
Why? Because the media and the talking heads had perverted it to mean something entirely different, nobody I knew of or had come in contact with brought this point to light. So how would I know elsewise? I digress.
Here’s a quote from “Advocates for Truth” History of the separation of Church and State
”In the early colonies, it was common to have an established church. Congregationalism was the dominant state church in the northern colonies while the Church of England was dominant in the southern colonies. Under certain laws, people were forced to pay taxes to support clergy, attend church, or needed a license to preach. Harsh penalties were frequently met with those who disobeyed. This adversely affected religious minorities like Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Quakers, Baptists, etc. They objected to having their tax money used to support clergy with whom they disagreed and, as a result, bore the brunt of these punishments, suffering intense persecution.”
We see a need for legislation to keep the State out of the church’s affairs. Not the other way around!
Further down in the main article, we see there was an especially defining court case.
Lemon v. Kurtzman <1971>
”In this case, the Supreme Court established what became known as the Lemon Test to see if a law or government program violated the First Amendment. It had three parts. First, a law must have “a legitimate secular purpose.” Second, it cannot “have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion.” Third, it cannot “result in an excessive entanglement of government and religion.”
In closing.
Fact-checking isn’t just for the Gestapo! You, as an American citizen. Or, as a person seeking the truth, you have an obligation to do the necessary research to get to the bottom of it and discover for yourself what truly happened at critical points in our history, both as a nation and a world. Don’t trust the establishment to always tell you the truth. If they did that, their whole house of cards would come crashing down upon them, and you, as a person, would realize WE THE PEOPLE, are the ones with the true power, not the corporate entities and puppets for the elite’s bidding.