True Separation

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“When the Constitution actually mandates with regard to religion is two-fold: one, the non-establishment of a national church by an act of Congress, and two, non-interference with the free exercise of religion by Congress. Got that? No Church of the United States, comparable to the Church of Denmark, or the Church of England. When the Constitution was ratified, nine of the thirteen colonies had established state churches at the state level” (God Rest Ye Merry, p. 71).

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Allen
Allen
10 years ago

There was a third requirement as well — no religious test for federal office. While that may have seemed like a good idea at the time, it’s not clear that it made us better off.

donjones
donjones
10 years ago

And remember in those days a religious test meant a sectarian test, eg, Baptist or Presbyterian or Anglican oriented. Many states had religious tests of basic Christian truths for candidates for office, and many required similar religious tests for their delegates to the constitutional convention.