"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion..."

Founders Quote of the Week

John Adams, DALLE-2

I don’t know how many times I’ve been part of a conversation, or simply watched a protest, where people answer any objection to their positions by simply shouting or writing, “Separation of church and state!!” It’s as if they’ve dropped the mic and can just saunter on having destroyed any possible response. But that phrase exists absolutely nowhere in the Constitution. It’s not in the First Amendment.

Here’s the full quote by John Adams aimed at the leaders of Tripoli of Barbary in 1797:

“As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion, -as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility of Musclemen…” [Moslems]

That sounds like a slam dunk for any person who wishes to prove that America is not a Christian nation. Especially knowing how devoutly Christian John Adams was. But there seems to be some statements to the contrary that make this not so clear. The same man looked to have the exact opposite view according to other statements he has made.

“Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people." - John Adams

Even our father of fathers, George Washington, seemed to believe the same. That the Constitution was only applicable to religious people.

This is from his farewell address:

“…reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

“Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice?”

Washington’s concern is that he sees no justification for the inherent dignity of each individual human being — which is the source of our right to life, liberty and happiness — outside of moral principles in religion.

How can men who are so religious also believe that the government is not “founded on the Christian religion”? Because our government is based on documents that are like blueprints.

Imagine looking at a set of blueprints for a church. It has a steeple, stained glass, large beautiful doors, and reflects the cosmology inherent in the Bible. Although it is absolutely being built for people to practice and venerate their religion, and it has numerous designs rooted in religious ideas, nobody would ever preserve the blueprints as religious documents.

And that’s what our founding documents are. They are blueprints for running a nation. They are not religious documents in and of themselves, which means our government is not itself religious.

The phrase “separation of church and state” came from a letter written by the Danbury Baptists in 1801 to Thomas Jefferson expressing concern that the religious establishment clause made it seem like our religious rights came from the government and not from God.

Jefferson’s response assured them that there was a “wall of separation between Church and State” that protected them from government incursion into their religious practices. That “religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God.” That letter has been the basis for interpretation, for good and for ill, of our religious establishment and practice clauses for several court cases. But it is nowhere to be found in our Constitution.

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So, no, the government is not a religious institution. But the insights about how it should be built — its blueprints — do absolutely have some connections to the hearts and minds of religious people, and penetrate through to “secular” practices of its moral principles.