At our founding 250 years ago, there was much separation between the original 13 states soon to be called the United States of America (big states v. small states, slavery), and between America and Great Britain. However, what our Founding Fathers did have in common was a strong Trust in God and desire for freedom.
Starting from the very beginning, we have “The Mayflower Compact in 1620”: “We have undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern Parts of Virginia”. Moving to Patrick Henry’s “Liberty” Speech in 1775: “We must fight! We shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations—Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. Forbid it, Almighty God! As for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”
The Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776, stated: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness—with a firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence.”
After The Constitution of the United States was adopted in 1787, we have George Washington’s First Inaugural Address in 1789: “It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe— No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand more than the People of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency—we ought to understand that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected in a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.”
This leads us to The Bill of Rights which amended the Constitution in 1791 with Amendment I to confirm religious freedom: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Nowhere in the Constitution is there a provision “requiring the separation of church and state.”
Fast forward to the 1970’s after socialist intellectuals had invaded our law schools and courts and “wordsmithed” Amendment I to require the separation of church and state such that God was kicked out of our schools and public squares. What about “Congress not making laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion” and “the propitious smiles of Heaven”?
Steve Gardes is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) with over 40 years of public accounting experience.
