Thomas Jefferson’s Wall of Separation letter is a defining document in American culture, and for good reason. It was so powerful that Americans coined the term “separation of church and state” based off of one of its most famous lines: “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.”
Jefferson felt that religion should be based solely on an individual’s personal beliefs on the issue and not ever as the result of government intervention. He stated that government should make no legislation predicated on submission or deference to religious institutions. In this context, religious activity should be voluntary, not mandatory or regulated, in civic domains. The concept is so important that our Founding Fathers wove it into the fabric of the First Amendment. The first tenet states that Congress cannot promote one religion over another or restrict individual religious practices. This also means that atheists and agnostics are protected. The law is blindingly clear. In fact, if we lose any of the five tenets of the First Amendment, we will no longer function as a representative republic. We’ll become something far worse. The First Amendment must be defended at all costs.
Some Americans consider theocracy a good idea while misunderstanding our governmental and cultural underpinnings. Our country is still fighting an internal battle that began with those who created the Enlightenment and those who spawned the Second Great Awakening. The Enlightenment inspired the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, United States of America, and scientific advancement. The Second Great Awakening rejected rationalism, championed emotion and supernatural beliefs, and assumed that Christ would be returning soon to set things in order.
Jefferson had little patience for superstition. He once said, “And the day will come, when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as His Father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.” Jefferson respected Christ’s teachings but abhorred the religious inventions that vitiated those teachings. He and his colleagues did everything they could through legislation to protect Americans from the ugly consequences Europeans faced for centuries due to religious intolerance.
Today, Americans are still choosing sides on this debate that has been waged in different iterations since at least the time of ancient Greece. Just ask Socrates, who was executed for, in part, going against the will of the gods. If we want to protect America’s political, economic, and cultural essence, then we should continue to side with the Enlightenment tradition. Technological advancement will require every country in the global economy to do so by default. As a result, Jefferson’s wall of separation will probably grow stronger. We can only hope.
