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The following is the first of the 10 amendments to the Constitution; ratified December 15, 1791, together forming what is known as the "Bill of Rights." Amendment I 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. In this discussion we are only concerned about the first sentence of Amendment I which is: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. This language may be confusing to some, so allow me to simplify it by stating it this way: The government can not control the church, or keep people from doing church stuff. Before I talk about this sentence, let me first explain what the Bill of Rights is and is not. Our rights do not originate from the Bill of Rights, as some want you to believe. Our rights come from God. Before the Bill of Rights was written, people had rights; rights granted by God. So why was the Bill of Rights written? The Bill of Rights was written for those in government to refer to to make sure that they are not doing something wrong. Let me stress this point: the Bill of Rights is not a document that we refer to to know if we are obeying the law, it is a document that the govornment refers to to ensure that they are obeying the law! When the government wants to do something they ask themselves, "Can we do this? Does this violate anybody's rights? We better consult the Bill of Rights to make sure." You see, the government does not inherently know what people's rights are. So it made an attempt at listing some of them so that they could refer to them when making laws. How do I know that the writers felt that this was a list of only some of the rights? Amendment IX The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. This sentence simplified would read: This list of rights can not be used to take away or reduce the rights that people automatically have. The words 'others retained' in this amendment show us that the writers knew 1) not all rights were listed and 2) people had inherent rights that they retained! So now that we know what the Bill of Rights is and is not and why it was written, lets go back to the first amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. or The government can not control the church, or keep people from doing church stuff. Many people want us to believe that if you are a person who has a religious sentiment or a religious point of view, that you are not welcome to express it in anything government related. Your viewpoint is said to be violating the concept of separation of church and state. The next time someone says to you, "Well that's a violation of the separation of church and state." Ask them, "Where does it say that?" They will say that the first amendment protects us from the church interfering in the government. And you can ask, "Do you mean the part that says congress shall pass no law...?" Can you see the absurdity? Have these people not read the first amendment? I would have to answer this by saying either no, they have not read the first amendment and they are just parroting what they have heard others parroting. Or yes, they have read it and they are motivated by hate. Hate for Christians and hate for God. I used to get angry when someone would reverse the separation issue, but now I am more saddened than anything else. Some are blinded by ignorance because they have not thought for themselves, and some are blinded by "prince of the power of the air" Ephesians 2:2. Either way, when arguing this point it is not your opinion that matters. The first amendment speaks for itself and you do not have to know any tricks of logic or rhetoric to show that it means what it says: The government shall not influence the church! It does not say the church shall not influence the government Those who are ignorant of the facts need only to be shown the facts; those who are blinded by hate need your prayers and love. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" Matthew 5:44 It is my hope that you now have clear understanding of the real meaning of separation of church and state in the light of the first amendment. And now when someone throws out the separation statement, you will be able to discern if the statement, as used, is based on first amendment fact or upon error. If after demonstrating to them what the first amendment actually says they still will not accept the truth, then you will know that their statement was not made in ignorance but made in hate. Best regards, |