The Public Forum: Separation of Constitution and State

By Bernard Carman

The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Even though this does not spell out the words “separation of church and state”, it is interpreted to mean that matters of religion should be separate with regards to the creation of legislation that is binding upon Americans; thus, the constitution says our government cannot make laws about its citizens’ involvement or non-involvement in religion. The misunderstanding and misapplication of this First Amendment, however, has contributed to our government violating this amendment, resulting in the growing separation of Constitution and State!

Separation of church and state does not mean separation of morality and state. The word “church” refers to religion which has a government organization of its own, where “morality” refers to a system of philosophy governing right and wrong conduct. In contrast to religious issues, moral issues are inherently intertwined with state legislation, because they are built upon fundamental truths that have proven themselves over the test of time and throughout many cultures. These fundamentals were used as the building blocks of our judicial system during the foundation of our country and are exemplified within the last six of the Biblical Ten Commandments, which are noble virtues regardless of individual beliefs. They are simply the oldest proven unified code of conduct known to mankind; they are true laws that work when applied.

Does a monument depicting the Ten Commandments in a court of law violate the First Amendment? Is this statue a “law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof?” It is a monument depicting a document that contains valuable ideals upon which our country’s judicial system was based. The fact that there is a connection between this document and various religious organizations is no basis for its removal from our courthouses. If it is, then why isn’t anyone protesting the statue of Themis, the blindfolded Greek goddess of justice, presiding on top of our courthouses holding the “scales of justice?”

If we are going to question the constitutional justification of having the Ten Commandments in a courthouse, then we should ask some other questions as well: Are there any wreaths and/or Christmas trees in any public or government buildings during the Christmas season? How many tax dollars are spent in every city and township in America on miscellaneous Christmas activities and decorations each year? Furthermore, what about “blue laws” -- where state legislation prevents certain businesses to open on Sundays? Why are religious - Christmas/Easter/Halloween - activities and decorations, in which children must participate, perpetuated in our public schools? Aren’t public schools run by the state?

Regarding the current debate about same-sex marriage, what business does our government have with marriage in the first place? Marriage is a religious institution established by God, not man. Even outside of Judaism and Christianity, marriage has always been a religious institution throughout many cultures for those couples who choose to enter into it. What justifies the state’s assumption that it has jurisdiction over the institution of marriage? Can the government decide who really loves whom?

Perhaps there is a real and just reason for the removal of the Ten Commandments... perhaps our courts have already entirely lost any true justice and integrity; therefore, the removal of the Ten Commandments is appropriate after all! I find it interesting that the Bible depicts God as Creator of all things who gives free will to mankind to decide how we might choose to govern our own lives; wouldn’t it be nice if our government would do likewise? During recent years, there has been a relentless attempt to remove every semblance of the “Creator philosophy” from our nation’s history at any cost, forgetting that according to our founding documents, our unalienable rights are endowed to us by our Creator, which is a power higher than our government. As we remove the Creator from this equation, who will endow us with our unalienable rights? Without these rights, our government could do what ever it pleases to us! It is alarming how our Constitutional rights and freedoms have continued to erode, while our government continues to gain in size, power, and control.

In matters of “separation of church and state”, shouldn’t we be demanding that our government adhere to the First Amendment? Shouldn’t we be trying to reform the various corruptive and unconstitutional activities found within our government? Or should we continue to allow these unconstitutional actions of our government which further create a separation of Constitution and State?

Bernard Carman lives in Asheville, NC.