The First Amendment to the United States Constitution
prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion,
impeding the free exercise of religion.
Today we are told that this means “the separation of church
and state” and therefore we can no longer read the Bible or pray in schools.
Did our founding fathers really intend on limiting the
expression of religion in government?
On the day that the founding fathers signed the Declaration
of Independence, they underwent an immediate transformation. On the day before
every one of them was a British citizen, living in a British colony with 13
crown appointed British state governments. However, when they signed that
document, they lost all of their state documents. Consequently, they returned home
to create new state constitutions.
A look at some of the original state constitutions reveals
the truth as to whether or not the founding fathers intended to keep religion
out of government.
Below are some clauses in a few state constitutions.
Some Religious Clauses in State Constitutions
Delaware; Article 22 (1776) "Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust...shall...also make and subscribe the following declaration, to whit:
'I,_____, do profess faith in God
the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God,
blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and
New Testament to be given by divine inspiration'"
Georgia; Article VI (1777) "The representatives
shall be chosen out of the residents in each county...and they shall be of the
Protestant religion..."
Georgia; Article VI (1777) "The representatives
shall be chosen out of the residents in each county,...and they shall be of the
Protestant religion..."
Maryland; Article XXXV (1776) "That no other test
or qualification ought to be required...than such oath of support and fidelity
to this State...and a declaration of a belief in the Christian religion."
Massachusetts; First Part, Article II (1780) "It
is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated
seasons, to worship the SUPREME BEING, the great Creator and Preserver of the
universe..."
Massachusetts; First Part, Article II (1780) "The
governor shall be chosen annually; and no person shall be eligible to this
office, unless...he shall declare himself to be of the Christian
religion."
Massachusetts; Chapter VI, Article I (1780) "[All
persons elected to State office or to the Legislature must] make and subscribe
the following declaration, viz.
'I,_____, do declare, that I believe
the Christian religion, and have firm persuasion of its truth...'"
New Hampshire; Part 1,
Article 1, Section 5 (1784) "...the legislature ...authorize ...the
several towns ...to make adequate provision at their own expense, for the
support and maintenance of public protestant teachers of piety, religion and
morality..."
New Hampshire; Part 2, (1784) "[Provides that no
person be elected governor, senator, representative or member of the Council]
who is not of the protestant religion."
New Jersey; Article XIX (1776) "...no Protestant
inhabitant of this Colony shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil right...;
all persons, professing a belief in the faith of any Protestant sect...shall be
capable of being elected into any office of profit or trust, or being a member
of either branch of the Legislature."
North Carolina; Article XXXII (1776) "That no
person, who shall deny the being of God or the truth of the Protestant
religion, or the divine authority either of the Old or New Testaments,...shall
be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the civil
department within this State.
Pennsylvania; Declaration of Rights II (1776)
"...Nor can any man, who acknowledges the being of a God, be justly
deprived or abridged to any civil right as a citizen, on account of his
religious sentiments or peculiar mode of religious worship."
Pennsylvania; Frame of Government, Section 10 (1776)
"And each member [of the legislature]...shall make and subscribe the
following declaration, viz.:
'I do believe in one God, the
creator and governor of the universe, the rewarder to the good and the punisher
of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament
to be given by Divine inspiration.'"
Pennsylvania; Article IX,
Section 4 (1790) "that no person, who acknowledges the being of a God, and
a future state of rewards and punishments, shall, on account of his religious
sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit
under this commonwealth."
South Carolina; Article III (1778) "[State
officers and privy council to be] all of the Protestant religion."
South Carolina; Article XII (1778) "...no person
shall be eligible to a seat in the said senate unless he be of the Protestant
religion."
South Carolina; Article XXXVIII (1778) "That all
persons and religious societies who acknowledge that there is one God, and a
future state of rewards and punishments, and that God is publicly to be
worshipped, shall be freely tolerated. The Christian Protestant religion shall
be deemed...to be the established religion of this State."
Tennessee; Article VIII, Section 2 (1796) "...no
person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and
punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this State."
Vermont; Frame of Government, Section 9 (1777)
"And each member [of the legislature],...shall make and subscribe the
following declaration, viz.:
'I do believe in one god, the
Creator and Governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of
the wicked. And I do acknowledge the scriptures of the old and new testament to
be given by divine inspiration, and own and profess the protestant
religion.'"
