Religious Freedom: What the 1st Amendment Really Means

Though it is sometimes a tedious exercise, with respect to freedom of religion let me again briefly remind my fellow Americans what the original meaning and intent of the 1st Amendment really is. (And if I can understand it, then anyone can.)

To reassure Baptists in Connecticut, in 1802 President Thomas Jefferson penned the metaphoric phrase "a wall of separation between church and state". (Important to note that at the time of his writing this letter, Mr. Jefferson was regularly attending church services in the Capitol itself !!! So much for a "wall of separation", huh?)

The 1st Amendment clearly and unambiguously states that "Congress shall make no law respecting the ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION (no state-mandated religion) or prohibiting the FREE EXERCISE thereof (freedom of religious expression without government interference)." Nowhere in the Constitution or the Amendment does it contain the words "a wall of separation between church and state".

However, in 1947 one Leo Pfeffer, an ACLU attorney (surprise, surprise), used Jefferson's metaphoric words to convince a dunderheaded Progressive-dominated "Supreme Court" (Everson v Board of Education Ewing Township) that the Amendment should be interpreted as a complete separation of church and state. That interpretation, of course, grossly and manifestly violates original meaning and intent. It doesn't take a genius to see that! (Well, apparently it does.)

In short, instead of abiding by the Constitution as written, the activist Progressive justices came down on the side of Pfeffer. Upshot: errant case law trumped the 1st Amendment.

Since then, our religious rights have been routinely and successfully violated by jurists, politicians, atheists and agnostics with impunity. Why? Because most Americans simply took little notice or merely rolled over like whipped little puppies. We've become very good at that. Make no mistake: the anti-religious forces in this country will not relent until the last coins inscribed with "In God We Trust" are melted down. And if we let that happen, we have only our unprincipled, spineless selves to blame.