Today more than ever there is a consensus in the broader culture that America does not have Christian roots. While the Constitution does state that there shall be no formal establishment or preference of any religion, it does not negate the fact that America was in fact founded on Judeo-Christian values. The Founding Fathers saw the importance of allowing the free exercise of any religion while also acknowledging the crucial importance of implementing the morals and values outlined in the Christian Bible. John Adams, along with an array of other Founding Fathers, claimed that a nation will not stand without good and moral people.
John Adams goes on to say that “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” It is humorous that people deny the Christian influence that our country was founded on. Our Constitution does explicitly state that the federal government shall make no formal establishment or preference of any religion. The Founding Fathers intentionally structured the young nation this way in response to the abuse of both Church and State that they witnessed in England. This is exemplified in many precedents, and Chief Justice Hale puts it perfectly in his Year Book 34, Henry VI., volume XXXVIII,
“To such laws as they of the Holy Church have in ancient writings, it is fit that we should recognize as authority, for this is common law or custom, upon which all kinds of law are founded… We are obligated to recognize their Holy Church law and equally they are under obligation to recognize our law, i.e; the civil law.”
However, it is important to remember that the Founding Fathers did not structure the American Republic in the same way as the English monarchy.
Furthermore, Chief Justice James Duane of England claims in King v. Waddington (1822) that “denying the truth of the Scriptures maliciously was by the common law libel, and the legislature could not alter the law whilst the Christian religion was considered to be the basis of that law.” But what does all of this mean in the context of the United States and their view of common law? Well, first and foremost it is crucial to recognize that, even without the establishment of a formal religion in the United States, many, if not nearly all of the Founding Fathers were Christian. It is debated as to how “religious” they were, and the reality was that a good portion of them were probably more agnostic than truly Christian, but one thing they had in common is their admiration for Christian morals and values. John Adams, a champion of implementing fundamental conservative values in American society, states that,
“the general principles, on which the Fathers achieved independence, were the only Principles in which that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen could Unite, and these Principles only could be intended by them in their address, or by me in my answer. And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity, in which all these Sects were United: And the general Principles of English and American Liberty…”
The notion that there ought to be a wall of separation between the Church and State was never actually coined within the Constitution, but is rather taken from Thomas Jefferson’s letters to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut. Though Jefferson was an advocate for the separation of the Church and the State (in the context of the First Amendment), he also acknowledged the crucial role that religion – specifically Christianity – played in creating a “good and moral people.”
Modern day conservatives hold a similar notion – that the government has a duty to promote a good moral compass within their nation. This goes back to Jefferson’s emphasis on religion being a crucial aspect of any society. A former professor of mine summarizes this perfectly: The liberal thinks government should regulate what you do in your business but not what you do in your bedroom; the conservative thinks government should regulate what you do in your bedroom but not what you do in your business; the populist thinks government should regulate what you do in both domains; and the libertarian thinks government should regulate in neither.
Jefferson’s letters to the Danbury Baptist Association emphasize one main point, which was the separation of the Church and the State. But it also emphasizes two other things: The importance for religious liberty, and the crucial need for the federal government to protect such religious liberty while maintaining the position that there should be a separation of the Church and the State.
Joseph Story, a U.S. Congressman and Supreme Court Justice appointed by James Madison explained this from a perspective of the Common Law.
“One of the most beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a part of the Common Law. There never has been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying at its foundations. I believe that Christianity is necessary to support a civil society and shall never attend to its institutions and acknowledge its precepts as the pure and natural sources of private and social happiness.”
It can be argued that the separation of the Church and State was meant to protect the Church from any overstep of the federal government in regulating the Church’s role in society. Regardless, two things remain: there is an indefinite need for religious liberty, and that the presence of such religious liberty is what aids to creating a good and moral people.
