1st Amendment: 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.
There are always two books that I keep with me at all times especially when I am writing, my King James Bible and The Constitution and with it the Declaration of Independence. I know that nobody wants to hear what the constitution says anymore and with-it God’s Word but I want you to look very carefully at what that 1st Amendment says. I want you to find the phrase “Separation of Church and State.” I want you to show me how we got that false phrase from the 1st Amendment. I hate to tell you but you won’t find in anywhere mentioned in the document that gave us freedom of religion not freedom from religion.
So how have we as a nation over the course of over 240 years come to reject God’s Word and our free exercise of religion in every public building, office, and school? Yes, I said school.
Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ungodly men have crept into our public offices, our schools, and our pulpits. These ungodly me with ungodly values know that if they can twist the 1st amendment and destroy it then with it along with every other freedom that we have will go away and we can see that happening in our country now with the 2nd amendment. They have rewritten what the founders meant concerning our freedom to worship and now are rewriting our God given right and freedom to protect ourselves.
There was one great objective and truth that the founders agreed upon and that was that “the general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were…. the general principles of Christianity.”
-John Adams
“In this great country of ours has been demonstrated the fundamental unity of Christianity and democracy.”
– President Harry Truman
These very principles that past leaders have spoken of were incorporated into our governing documents from the very beginning. In the garden Satan tempted Eve with the phrase “Hath God said.” Did God really say that Eve? “Surely you wont die but God knows that you will become gods like God himself!” So, Eve was deceived along with Adam into believing that they knew in their hearts was wrong. Sin can be traced back to the beginning. Back to the garden. Doubt, deception, worry, fear can all be traced back to garden.
Many have tried to twist and misinterpret what the founders meant regarding Christian values in the public arena. Did the founders really say that? They didn’t really say that. They really meant it this way so we are just going to take what they said out of context and use it to fit our agenda.
A French observer Alexis de Tocqueville reported what he saw when came to America in 1831:
“There is no country in the whole world in which the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America – and there can be no greater proof of its utility , and of its conformity to human nature, than that its influence is most powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation on earth.”
Known historian David Barton had a conversation with a U.S. Congressman who was also an accomplished attorney about the importance of the basic religious values and teachings to public behavior and society in general. Here is that conversation:
Congressman: “We know these values are important; its unfortunate that we can’t do anything to promote them.”
Barton: “Why not?”
Congressman: “We just can’t.”
Barton: “Why not?”
Congressman: “Because of Separation of Church and State.”
Barton: “Separation of Church and State? What about it?”
Congressman: “It’s in the Constitution-the Constitution won’t permit us to have religious values in public arenas.”
Keep in mind this an educated U.S. Congressman and accomplished attorney……
Barton: “That phrase is not in the Constitution!”
Congressman: “Yes, it is!”
Barton: “No its not.”
Congressman: “Yes, it is.”
They go back and forth and finally a copy of the Constitution is brought into the conversation.
Barton: “Would you please find that phrase for me?”
Congressman: “Id be happy to!”
The Congressman immediately turned to the 1st Amendment and read it……and became very embarrassed.
Congressman: “I can’t believe this! In law school they always taught us that’s what the First Amendment said!”
Barton: “You’ve never read the Constitution for yourself?”
Congressman: “We were never required to read it in law school!”
This conversation alone speaks volumes about what is being in our universities and our public schools. The words “separation”, “Church”, or “state” are nowhere found in the 1st amendment, the Constitution, or any other founding document. We will get to Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists.
People we need to be self-educated and read for ourselves. Stop relying on what the government says, what others say or even what I say, see for yourself. Paul told Timothy to study to show himself approved unto God. We need to know what God’s Word says, what the Constitution says, read the works and writings of our founders. Hosea said this:
Hosea 4: 6… My people perish from a lack of knowledge. It’s one thing to know your Bible, but it’s another thing to KNOW the God of the Bible. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said,” The scripture is our inexhaustible textbook, the Lord Jesus our boundless subject and the Holy Spirit our divine infinite helper “.
Even after seeing it for ourselves many people will say “Well, even though the words aren’t there, isn’t that what the First Amendment really means? We will answer that question in the next blog, “What the Founders Really Said” and the evidence that proves what they meant.
Sources used: Separation of Church and State- What the Founders Meant by David Barton
Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom in America 