People argue a lot about God and country and the Constitution. Most of it centers around the argument that America was intended to be a “Christian nation.”
For example, someone once said something like this to me: The Constitution makes no mention of a “wall of separation between church and state.”
The fellow who wrote that to me actually misspelled “Constitution” but I feel like being nice so I corrected it so he doesn’t look stupid. He also went on to add that the “separation doctrine” is an invention of the Supreme Court.
I have to admit, those statements made me curious. So I went and did some checking. I examined a document that most of us would probably accept as an absolute authority on the matter – The Constitution of the United States. Grab a copy of the Constitution and you can fact check my results if you want.
So, what does the Constitution of the United States say about God and religion anyway? Not much, it turns out. Based on the following facts, can the wall of separation be inferred, especially in light of comments by certain “founding fathers” that were made later?
From what power is the Constitution of the United States derived? I checked. The word “God” can’t be found there. Nor “Christ” or “Christianity” or “Creator” or “Maker.”
All I can find is a reference to “We the people…” That is where the power of the United States government lies.
The word “religion” is not found, but “religious” does result in one hit:
From Article VI. “… no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
That’s it. That’s all I could find. I’m now going to make an assumption: If this was supposed to be a country based on Christianity, don’t you think some of those terms would have been a skosh more prominent? Might they even have gone as far as to actually mention it?
If it was so bloody important, why on Earth would the founding fathers leave it completely out of the document we hold most dear?
Shouts from the Abyss 
Why do you hate freedom?
Sorry…PTSD flashback from the Bush years.
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Makes no mention of government run health care either.
And considering the al-Thuggy supporters want the government to run their lives, yes they do hate freedom.
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Gee, the Constitution makes no mention of FOX News or Rush Limbaugh, either. You make meaningless points. But you sure are good at it.
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I was referring to what the government is doing but go on and obsess about Fox and Rush, its what you are good at.
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Actually, I think people confuse the Constitution with The Declaration of Independence, which states “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…” I happen to have a copy in my office, bought at Monticello.
I’m a big fan of Thomas Jefferson (despite his many flaws). He was responsible for helping to insure freedom of religion and the separaton of church and state. I’m about to leave for the airport, but will take this up when I return.
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LOL oma! 🙂
And I did consider The Declaration of Independence before writing my post. I’m well aware it mentions a “creator.” It also refers to the “Laws of Nature” and “Nature’s God.”
If you ask me, those three tidbits feel somewhat carefully worded. And no matter how you interpret them, they are not exactly a ringing endorsement of Christianity or even a God that we can all agree upon. They seem to have deliberately went out of their way to leave the question open-ended.
Have a good trip!
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I just love those founding fathers. And Oma’s comment. 🙂
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Elric, I’m honestly starting to wonder why I bother with you. You don’t seem able to grasp certain concepts and ideas. But I’ll try one last time.
The thrust of my post is that if the founding fathers wanted this to be a Christian nation, I think they would have made a point of actually mentioning it.
Responding, “Oh yeah, well they didn’t mention XYZ, either!” does not speak to the point under discussion … at all. Yes, even if it is yet another hateful comment about Obama. Trust me, we all understand that by now. The problem is it has nothing to do with this thread. Can you understand that?
My examples of FOX News and Rush Limbaugh (with no hateful comments, by the way) were intended to show you what you had done.
Can you get any of that?
Me: “Roses are red.”
You: “Violets are blue.”
Another logical disconnect. 😦
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“Why do you hate freedom?
Sorry…PTSD flashback from the Bush years.”
But this is ok???? Ohh wait you got a chuckle out of it so its that posters with your viewpoint dont need to stay on topic like posters that dont share your viewpoint. Gotcha… Dont worry Im used to this sort of hypocrisy.
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Hypocrisy or not, you won’t acknowledge the point being made. That’s just chicken.
And yes, Oma meant it as a funny. You didn’t. Yet another distinction that you fail to see.
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“Hypocrisy or not, you won’t acknowledge the point being made. That’s just chicken.”
There is no point if there is hypocrisy involved.
“And yes, Oma meant it as a funny. You didn’t. ”
Hmmm your a mind reader as well? Amazing.
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Mind reader? Not at all. “al-Thuggy” simply isn’t funny. In fact, it’s about as fucking unfunny as it can possibly be. If you actually think that’s funny I recommend you hang out with some like-minded folks and you can all belly laugh together.
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And once again you’ve completely skirted the point and issue. I now officially dub you “troll.” I thought you might have some redeeming qualities, which is why I continued to expend some energy on you, but I can admit when I’m wrong. This is the wrong blog for you. Please leave. Any future comments will not be approved and I’ll never reply to you again. I said good day!
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[…] Related reading: You don’t have the Constitution for that […]
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[…] If they wanted this to be a Christian nation, wouldn’t they have bothered to actually mention it in our most basic legal […]
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[…] My earlier posts regarding the separation of church and state: You gotta have faith (in the White House) You don’t have the Constitution for that […]
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[…] I’ve got a copy of the Constitution. And I know how to count words and perform a search for the word “God.” (Which is, coincidentally, about the only time I ever deliberately look for him/her.) I’ve written about this before in a post humbly entitled, You Don’t Have The Constitution For That. […]
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