Read the Federalist Papers. Jefferson, himself, addressed this in a letter to a Danbury Baptist congregation and said that the "Establishment" clause, combined with the "free exercise" clause meant that a wall was put up between Church and State. In 1802, President Jefferson wrote:
Quote:
|
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith and worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people that declared that their Congress should make no laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."
|
I'll also quote James Madison ("Father of the Constitution) from 1819:
Quote:
|
"It was the Universal opinion of the Century [1600’s] preceding the last [1700’s], that Civil Government could not stand without the prop of a Religious establishment, & that the Christian religion itself, would perish if not supported by a legal provision for its Clergy. The experience of Virginia conspicuously corroborates the disproof of both opinions. The Civil Government...functions with complete success; Whilst the number, the industry, and the morality of the Priesthood, & the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the Church from the State."
|