The State versus Jesus Christ

             Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...
             These very important words were written over 200 years ago, and are still misunderstood, misconstrued, and misinterpreted by a majority of the citizens they protect. These words form the opening of the Federal Constitution's first Amendment, which most only know as their "right to freedom of speech" or wrongly, the law which separates church and state. In truth, this opening contains two very important parts, which are referred to as the "establishment clause" and the "free exercise clause." The establishment clause prevents the government from declaring or supporting a national religion, while the free exercise clause states that citizens are free to exercise their own beliefs (Archives.gov). There is nothing written or implied which states that the government and religion cannot coexist. When our forefathers set out to write the United States Constitution, they knew that most citizens were living in this "new world" because they did not want to live in England, a country where religious persecution was widely dealt and the penalties were quite painful (Forerunner). Knowing full well that any form of government based religion would upset a large portion of the citizens, James Madison et al made sure that the first Amendment of our Constitution was carefully written and revised so it covered as much as possible. This broad approach towards writing an official document has caused common citizens, historians, and even Supreme Court justices much pain in trying to decipher the writers' meaning. However, if our country has obviously grown and prospered since the early days of being raised on religious milk, should anything be changed?
             The origin of the wildly popular catchphrase "separation of church and state" was coined in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Churc...

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