The First Congress of the U.S.

The First Congress ratified the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (which contains the First Amendment). Perhaps their words and deeds give us better insight into the meaning (and limitations) of the First Amendment. This congress heard the debates, took part in the drafts and revisions, and ratified the final version. Surely they understood its meaning better than our courts today, yet some of today's courts would surely have found the acts of the Ratifiers of the Constitution to be unconstitutional!

• Fisher Adams - "Should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a schoolbook? Its morals are pure, its examples are captivating and noble."


• The first official act in the First Continental Congress was to open in Christian prayer, which ended in these words: "...the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Savior. Amen".


• In 1777, during the Revolutionary War, the First Continental Congress called the Bible "the great political textbook of the patriots" and appropriated funds to import 20,000 Bibles for the people. Many do not know that the Continental Congress began its sessions with prayer, a practice that is still followed by both houses of congress even today.

Notice in that last paragraph that the U.S. Government used Federal funds to pay for the printing of Bibles.

Our First Three Presidents - Quotes about Religion and Government

Some of this material will be found in other blog posts here, but I wanted to collect these quotes from our first three presidents to demonstrate a point. These men are accused of being atheists or deists. They are said to have wanted to shun religious connections to government. Yet their quotes do not bear that out. They recognized, privately AND publicly, that our freedoms and the basis for much of our government are from God. How could a man who supposedly wanted script prohibition of religion from government also think our "liberties are of the Gift of God" if he had a conscience? (See the Jefferson section below.)

George Washington
"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. It is impossible to account for the creation of the universe, without the agency of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to govern the universe without the aid of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to reason without arriving at a Supreme Being."

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports."

"It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God and to obey His will."

John Adams
"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." ....so great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read, the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens in their country and respectful members of society."

"The highest story of the American Revolution is this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."

Thomas Jefferson
"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever."

Subtle Religious Discrimination in Connecticut

These two examples are known to me personally. Many more are in the newspapers if one keeps an eye open for such things.

CT, Gales Ferry: when she was in elementary school, my daughter told me at supper that it is against the law to talk about God in school. This was an impression created by her teacher and by the general attitude at school (and in the news).

CT, Montville: Students in a fifth-grade class was asked to write a book report on any book they each chose pertaining to history. A girl chose the book of Genesis for her report. Her teacher told her that was unacceptable because of the "separation of church and state." Her father talked with the teacher and asked what limitations had been put on the assignment. There were none. With only a little persistence from the father, the teacher permitted the girl's topic. I suspect this teacher did not have an "agenda" of any kind. She was just doing what she thought was required, an impression created by some of the misdirected lawsuits that make it into the news.

I used to read USA Today regularly. Part of the paper is a one-page overview of a couple headlines from each state. Scanning through just that small view I often found examples similar to (or worse than) the stories above.

Delegates to Constitutional Convention - Religious Background

Continuing the threads about the religious affiliations of our Founding Fathers, here are a few members of the Constitutional Convention. See also the posts about the Continental Congress (10/29), signers of the Declaration of Independence (10/27), and signers of the Constitution (10/25). Or just follow the keywords for Christian Roots of the U.S..

• Caleb Strong - Vice President of the American Bible Society


• Luther Martin - He described himself as being devoted to: "The sacred truths of the Christian religion."


• George Mason - Called the 'Father of the Bill of Rights' because he insisted they be written to clarify what the federal government was not allowed to do. He also said "The laws of nature are the laws of God, whose authority can be superseded by no power on earth."

Continental Congress Members' Religious Background

• Elias Boudinot (President of CC) - Founder and first President of the American Bible Society; President of N.J. Bible Society; board member of American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; member of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. To his daughter: "You have been instructed from your childhood in the knowledge of your lost state by nature - the absolute necessity of a change of heart, and an entire renovation of soul to the image of Jesus Christ ­p; of salvation thro' His meritorious righteousness only - and the indispensable necessity of personal holiness without which no man shall see the Lord."


• Francis Dana - Member of the Society for Propagating the Gospel Among the Indians and Others


• John Lowell - Member of the Society for the Propagating of the Gospel among the Indians and Others.


• John Treadwell - Member of the Missionary Society of Connecticut


• William Samuel Johnson - Speaking as President of Columbia University to the first graduating class after the Revolutionary War: "Remember, too, that you are the redeemed of the Lord, that you are bought with a price, even the inestimable price of the precious blood of the Son of God."

Signers of the Declaration of Independence - Christian Background

Many question whether our Founders really were Christians. Here are some facts about the signers of the Declaration of Independence. (See also the post from 10/25 about signers of the Constitution.)

• Robert Treat Paine - Military Chaplain. "I am constrained to express my adoration of . . . the Author of my existence . . . [for] His forgiving mercy revealed to the world through Jesus Christ, through whom I hope for never ending happiness in a future state."


• Richard Stockton - "I think it proper here not only to subscribe to . . . doctrines of the Christian religion . . . but also, in the bowels of a father's affection, to exhort and charge them [my children] that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, that the way of life held up in the Christian system is calculated for the most complete happiness."


• Charles Carroll - "On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation and on His merits; not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts."


• Roger Sherman (see Constitution Signers)


• Benjamin Rush - Founder and manager of the Philadelphia Bible Society


• Samuel Adams - "We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come."
  Also: "The rights of the colonists as Christians...may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament."


• Benjamin Franklin (see Constitution Signers)


• Richard Henry Lee - Recommended a resolution setting apart: "Thursday, the 18th of December next, for solumn thanksgiving and praise, that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their Divine Benefactor; ... that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance."

Church Can Not Open Charter School in New York

The State of New York does not permit a church to run a charter school. A clergyman want to do just that, but does not want to have to "hide" the church association by running it through a separate non-profit organization. He has started a lawsuit against the state to get permission to open his school. The story is here:

Harlem Clergyman Wants To Establish a New School

Laws such as New York's usually claim to be upholding the First Amendment. But the Amendment bars the Federal Government from establishing a religion. If you apply the same principle to the State Governments, there is still a difference between avoiding establishing a religion and actually prohibiting a religious group from operating with freedom.

One should remember that Thomas Jefferson, whose private letter is often referred to when someone is putting forth the idea of separation of church and state, was the president of the Washington, D.C. school system. During his tenure he specified that the primary reading materials used in the school system would be the Bible and the Watts Hymnal. It seems clear he did not mind Christian ideas being presented in school.

In the story linked above, note that the church does not want to teach about religion in this proposed charter school.

Christian Background of Signers of the Constitution

Here are some of the Signers of the Constitution who had pretty strong Christian convictions:

• Abraham Baldwin - Chaplain in the American Revolution


• John Dickinson - From his will: "To my Creator I resign myself, humbly confiding in His goodness and in His mercy through Jesus Christ for the events of eternity."


• Gunning Bedford - Funeral oration on the death of Washington: "Now to the triune God, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all honor and dominion, forevermore."


• James Wilson - "Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority for that law which is divine...far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other." - from The Works of the Honorable James Wilson, Bird Wilson, editor (Philadelphia: Lorenzo Press, 1804)


• Jacob Broom - Writing to his son: "[D]on't forget to be a Christian. I have said much to you on this head and I hope an indelible impression is made. "


• Roger Sherman (signer of all 4 of our founding documents). When asked by his church, White Haven Congregational, to help revise the wording of their creed: "I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the old and new testaments are a revelation from God and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him."


• Alexander Hamilton - Proposed formation of the Christian Constitutional Society to spread Christian government around the world. After the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he stated: "For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests." - from Diffine, D.P., One Nation Under God - How Close a Separation?


• Rufus King - Selected as manager of the American Bible Society. In a speech made before the Senate at the time Missouri was petitioning for statehood, he said: "I hold that all laws or compacts imposing any such condition [as involuntary servitude] upon any human being are absolutely void because contrary to the law of nature, which is the law of God."


• John Langdon - Vice President of the American Bible Society


• James McHenry - President of the first Bible Society in Baltimore. In soliciting funds for distribution of Bibles, he wrote: "...Consider also, the rich do not possess aught more precious than their Bible, and that the poor cnnot be presented by the rich with anything of greater value."


• Clarence Cotesworth Pinckney - President of the Charleston Bible Society; Vice President of the American Bible Society


• Gouverneur Morris - "[T]he most important of all lessons [from the Scriptures] is the denunciation of ruin to every State that rejects the precepts of religion" - from Collections of the New York Historical Society for the Year 1821 (NY: E. Bliss and E. White, 1821) pp. 32,34, from "An Inaugural Discourse Delivered Before the New York Historical Society by the Honorable Gouverneur Morris, (President,) 4th September, 1816."


• John Witherspoon - "[S]hun, as a contagious pestilence,... those especially whom you perceive to be infected with the principles of infidelity or [who are] enemies to the power of religion" - from Witherspoon, Works, VI:13, from "An Address to the Senior Class at Princeton College," Sept. 23, 1775.


• Richard Bassett - Participated in writing the Constitution of Delaware, which states: "Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust... shall... make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: 'I, ____, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, an din 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.'"


• David Brearly - A warden of St. Michael's Church, a compiler of the Protestant Episcopal Prayer Book, and a delegate to the Episcopal General Convention in 1786.


• Benjamin Franklin - "It is the duty of mankind on all suitable occasions to acknowledge their dependence on the Divine Being... [that] Almighty God would mercifully interpose and still the rage of war among the nations... [and that] He would take this province under His protection, confound the designs and defeat the attempts of its enemies, and unite our hearts and strengthen our hands in every undertaking that may be for the public good, and for our defense and security in this time of dangers."


• William Samuel Johnson - Speaking as President of Columbia University to the first graduating class after the Revolutionary War: "Remember, too, that you are the redeemed of the Lord, that you are bought with a price, even the inestimable price of the precious blood of the Son of God."


• William Livingston: "I believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, without any foreign comments or human explanations... I believe that he who feareth God and worketh righteousness will be accepted of Him..."

The Mayflower Compact

The Mayflower Compact, signed before the voyagers came ashore, is the first governing document of the U.S. Note that in the hard to read old English style below, the founders declared that they were here for the "glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith."

"In ye name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwriten, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord King James by ye grace of God, of Great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland king, defender of ye faith, &c. Haveing undertaken, for ye glorie of God, and advancemente of ye Christian faith, and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in ye presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves togeather into a civill body politick; for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue hearof, to enacte, constitute, and frame shuch just & equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete & convenient for ye generall good of ye Colonie: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witnes wherof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cap-Codd ye .11. of November, in ye year of the raigne of our soveraigne lord King James of England, France, & Ireland ye eighteenth, and of Scotland ye fiftie fourth. Ano: Dom .1620."

John Quincy, John, and Samuel Adams

John Quincy Adams: "The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."

Samuel Adams: "We have this day restored The Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient, and from the rising to the setting sun, let His kingdom come."

Samuel Adams: "In short, we should teach our young people to study the practice and the exalted virtues of the Christian system."

John Adams: "We are basing the hope of mankind in our ability to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

John Adams: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."

Jesus Profane? Dont' Say "God" in Court?

California: The Supreme Courts of California and Pennsylvania declared that the use in court of any quotation from the Bible is unconstitutional.

California, Bakersfield: the principal of a middle school prohibited the wearing of clothes imprinted with anything "drug-related, profane, gang-related, or anything pertaining to Jesus."

Chief Justice Renquist Opinion - Separation of Church and State

Chief Justice William Rehnquist said: "there is simply no historical foundation for the proposition that the framers intended to build a wall of separation. ... The wall of separation between church and state is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging, and it should be frankly and explicitly abandoned. ... History must judge whether it was the Father of our country, Washington, plus the majority of the House of Representatives and the Senate who were correct in their understanding of the First Amendment, or whether it is a majority of the Court today." Justice Byron White said he completely agreed, and therefore they should re-look at all of the cases dealing with the matter of separation of church and state and deal with them all over again in the light of what was intended.

Learn more about the First Amendment by reading The Four Freedoms of the First Amendment.

Commentary by Richard Storey

The first commentary ever written on the Constitution was written by Justice Richard Storey in 1835, who was appointed to the court by Madison. "The general, if not universal, sentiment in America was that religion ought to receive encouragement from the State so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience and the freedom of religious worship. An attempt to level all religions and to make it a matter of State policy to hold all in utter indifference would have created universal disapprobation if not universal indignation." The real object of the First Amendment, he says, was "not to countenance, much less advance, Mohammedanism, Judaism, or infidelity by prostrating Christianity, but to exclude all rivalry among Christian sects and to prevent any national ecclesiastical establishment which would give to an hierarchy the exclusive patronage of the national government."

There are some good collected resources in the Amazon First Amendment Store

Everson v Board of Education - It Begins...

Supreme Court, 1947, Everson vs Board of Education (banning prayer in public schools): the court said that the "establishment clause" applied equally to the states as to the federal government. The amendment says "Congress shall make no law..." but the court said the 14th amendment makes the establishment clause apply to the states. The 14th says: "no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." The court said freedom here also refers to religious freedom, so no state may make any law establishing religion. Hugo Black wrote the opinion in that case and for the first time in American jurisprudence, introduced the phrase "separation of church and state," found in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson. He also said that America was a secular nation (the first time that had been stated officially, also), despite previous Supreme Court decisions that indicated America was a Christian nation. The Supreme Court in this case had no court precedents or previous court decisions to cite; this was never before part of American jurisprudence; the concept was not in previous decisions and is not in the Constitution. Black also implied in this decision that the establishment clause could be upheld without considering the freedom of religion clause.

Learn more from The Constitution & Religion : Leading Supreme Court Cases on Church and State

Intent of the Bill of Rights

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention were highly suspicious of centralized power, having just thrown off the British ruler. Their objective was to draft a document that gave sufficient authority to Congress and the federal government, but also dispersed power to the various branches of government and kept a great deal of authority in the states. The framers wanted to give Congress only certain listed powers and leave the rest of the power the individual states. Religiously speaking, the states at the time of the convention were diverse: some states allowed a form of religious freedom, while others had state churches that were supported through compulsory taxation. These state churches were given a preferred position over other denominations or churches. In fact, nine of the thirteen colonies had some form of state church, which were all Christian. Most of the representatives didn't want the federal government to meddle in the religious affairs of their states. For this and other reasons, many representatives weren't willing to sign the Constitution without the assurance the Bill of Rights would be forthcoming. Note that the ten amendments that make up the Bill of Rights all place limitations on the power of the federal government, reserving any other powers for the states or people.

David Barton has a book discussing this: Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution & Religion

The Great Seal of the United States

This quote is from Newsweek magazine, the December 27, 1982 issue: "In 1776, Benjamin Franklin proposed to the Continental Congress that the great seal of the United States bear the image of Moses leading the Israelites across the Red Sea. Thomas Jefferson also urged an Exodus image: he wanted the new nation represented by an Israel led through the wilderness by the Biblical pillar of cloud and fire. In the end, they settled for an inscription that blends Enlightenment ideals with scriptural inspiration: Annuit Coeptis, Novus Ordo Seclorum - He favored this undertaking, the new order of the ages."

Reading the Bible on a School Bus

This item, from Virginia, was in the news several years ago. Audrey Pearson, a 10-year old mentally and physically handicapped girl, rode a public school bus to attend a special school. To cope with the boredom of the one-hour ride, her mother gave her a Bible to read on the bus. The principal notified the mother that children are not allowed to bring Bibles to school. Reason: separation of church and state.

Jefferson as a Resource on the 1st Amendment

Jefferson's metaphor, "separation of church and state," has been used in the past 45 years to justify many of the Supreme Court's decisions limiting religious activity, ignoring the fact that he was speaking to reassure a church that they were protected from the federal government (not the other way around), and ignoring the fact that he and the Constitution use "state" to mean only the federal government, not state or local governments. As one's main authority on the Constitution, Jefferson is suspect. He was not involved in the creation of the Constitution or the First Amendment - he was overseas serving as ambassador to France at the time.

Thomas Jefferson on Jesus

"I hold the precepts of Jesus as delivered by Himself, to be the most pure, benevolent and sublime which have ever been preached to man...

"Of all systems of morality, ancient of modern, which have come under my observation, none appear to be so pure as that of Jesus."

Christian Leaders

John Jay, 1st Chief Justice of the U.S., appointed by George Washington: “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians as their rulers.”

Northwest Ordinance

The same Congress that ratified the First Amendment wrote the Northwest Ordinance. According to the United States Code, it is one of the four principle documents on which our nation was founded (Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, and Northwest Ordinance). It says, “Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged and established in the Northwest Territory.” [note: it says that religion is one necessity for which schools must be established.]

Congress later required that all territories becoming states must have Constitutions which were “not repugnant to the Northwest Ordinance.” For example, the Ohio constitution says “religion, morality and knowledge being essentially necessary to the good government and happiness of mankind, schools and the means of instruction shall ever be encouraged by legislative provisions.”

The First National Day of Prayer

One of the first Congress' first acts (one day after the First Amendment was formally adopted) was to petition President Washington to recommend to the American people a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. The purpose was, in the words of the Congress, "to acknowledge, with grateful hearts, the signal favors of Almighty God." Washington endorsed the resolution and urged all Americans to unite in prayer, as he said "to the great Lord and ruler of nations, and to beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions."

Congress Goes to Church

After George Washington was sworn in as President, he lead the entire House, Senate, and cabinet to St. Paul's Episcopal church for a two-hour service, lead by the Chaplains of the House and Senate.

Chaplains

The same Congress that wrote the First Amendment also appointed chaplains for the House and Senate and for all the branches of the Armed Forces.

Evolution of the First Amendment

First Amendment to the Constitution, religion clauses: “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” That language can seem a little confusing to modern ears. What did they mean by "...respecting the establishment of religion..."? It might be helpful to see the slightly different wording in the various drafts.

Madison’s first draft was “The civil right of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed. No state shall violate the equal rights of conscience …”

The House’s draft modified the wording as “no religion shall be established by law, nor shall the equal rights of conscience be abridged.”

Madison was asked about the broad language and said it meant that “Congress should not establish a religion, enforce the legal observation of it by law, nor compel men to worship God in any manner contrary to their conscience.”

The Congress again modified it to read “Congress shall make no law establishing religion, or to prevent the free exercise thereof, nor to infringe the rights of conscience.”

Then the Senate worked up their own version, intending to limit the exclusion to a nationally-established church: “Congress shall make no law establishing articles of faith or a mode of worship, or prohibiting the free exercise of religion.”

The Bible in Early America

From Newsweek, 12/27/82: [In America’s early history] Bible study was the core of public education…” … “Scripture had profoundly shaped the new world to which [the immigrants] had come.”

Reynolds vs the United States (1879)

In Reynolds vs the United States, a Mormon man challenged the federal law prohibiting polygamy. The Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment absolutely protected religious belief but not necessarily religious conduct. If this were not the case, the court reasoned, human sacrifice for example would have to be allowed where religion required it. Thus the precedent was clearly established that government could control some types of religious conduct.

The Phrase Separation of Church and State

Many people think the phrase "Separation of Church and State" is in our Constitution; or maybe our Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments of the Constitution); or maybe the Declaration of Independence. However, it is not found in any of our early government documents.

In 1801 the Danbury (Connecticut) Baptist Association heard that the Congregationalist Church was attempting to become the national denomination. They wrote to Jefferson to object. His response said they needn’t worry because Congress had erected a “wall of separation between church and state.”

Jefferson was speaking of the wall protecting the church from interference by the State (Federal Government) and assuring them that the United States would not sanction one type of religion over another IN AN OFFICIAL AND BINDING WAY.

At the time the Constitution was ratified, several of our states had their own state religion. They did not force people to worship thusly, but the state government did support that particular church. The states later dropped such official standing for churches, but the point was the states would sign the Constitution if they thought the Federal Government would be able to interfere.

James Madison on Religion and Government

James Madison said: “Before any man can be considered as a member of civil society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the universe—religion is the basis and foundation of government.”

Chief Justice John Marshall on Christian Leaders

Chief Justice Marshall was appointed in 1801 by Thomas Jefferson, and said: “No person, I believe, questions the importance of religion to the happiness of man even during his existence in this world. The American population is entirely Christian; and with us Christianity and religion are identical. It would be strange indeed if, with such a people, our institutions did not presuppose Christianity, and did not often refer to it and exhibit relations with it.”

Thomas Jefferson on Faith and Government

“Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God?”

From George Washington's farewell address as President

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. … And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion … Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail to the exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true that virtue of morality is a necessary spring of popular government.”

Declaration of Independence (Excerpt)

Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to self-evident, that all men are created equal, and they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights.” “...appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions...” “And for the support of this declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

I expect the word "creator" above was chosen carefully. They could have said "endowed by God" but did not. Perhaps they just used a more poetic expression, which is often found in writings of the Founders, or perhaps they were just allowing for the various religions already present in this country.

But either way, they certainly recognized where our rights come from - not from government, not from man, but from the creator.

The First Amendment

“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 peaceable to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

That is the entire First Amendment. The underlined portion contains two phrases called the religion clauses. The first of the two is called the “establishment clause,” and the second is called the “free exercise” clause.

The Bill of Rights

Because our founders were suspicious of the power a Federal government might build, many would not sign the Constitution draft until a Bill of Rights was added. This bill mostly illuminated the limitations on the Federal government and outlined the rights of the individual. Some Founders thought this was unnecessary because the main Constitution only gave the Federal government certain powers in the first place, and the government had only those powers specifically granted in the Constitution.

The drafts of the Bill of Rights (which were the first 10 amendments) went through many revisions. Our Founders were educated and knew the importance of words. In my opinion, the order of the amendments may be important. The first of the amendments was about religion and free speech, with religion mentioned first. Considering that many of our Founders came here to avoid religious persecution by a central government, this is not surprising.

Background

Many of our founders came to the New World to get away from the oppression of the British government and state church. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention were highly suspicious of centralized power, having just thrown off the British ruler. Their objective was to draft a document that gave sufficient authority to Congress and the federal government, but also dispersed power to the various branches of government and kept a great deal of authority in the states. The framers wanted to give Congress only certain listed powers and leave the rest of the power the individual states. Religiously speaking, the states at the time of the convention were diverse: some states allowed a form of religious freedom, while others had state churches that were supported through compulsory taxation. These state churches were given a preferred position over other denominations or churches. In fact, nine of the thirteen colonies had some form of state church, which were all Christian. Most of the representatives didn't want the federal government to meddle in the religious affairs of their states. For this and other reasons, many representatives weren't willing to sign the Constitution without the assurance the Bill of Rights would be forthcoming. Note that the ten amendments that make up the Bill of Rights all place limitations on the power of the federal government, reserving any other powers for the states or people.

James Madison said: "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. ... The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State."

Does that sound like the situation today? Does our Federal government seem to have only a few, well-defined powers?