To the editor:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” How many people recognized that statement as belonging to the First Amendment to our Constitution? It would have been easier, perhaps, if I had said “Congress shall make no law infringing upon the separation of church and state.” Just about everyone could easily identify that with the Constitution. The problem is that the first statement really is in the Constitution and the second is not. In fact, the phrase “separation of church and state” is nowhere in any of the founding documents or in any law. Yet, how often do we hear this spoken of as if it were law?

Consider the following politically incorrect statement, “By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion; and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed on the same equal footing.” This statement was made by the Supreme Court in 1799 to clarify what was meant by the “no establishment” clause quoted above. The founding fathers did not want a national church. America was a Christian nation at its foundation, but not a specifically Baptist or Congregationalist or Catholic nation. Far from a “separation” of church and state, John Adams said there should be an “indissoluble bond” between them. George Washington said, “If this nation should ever cease to place God first in everything, this nation will cease to exist.”

We owe a great debt to the faith of our fathers. For the strength of our nation today is due not to any economic system but to the strong Christian values that are its foundation. Yet, if the ACLU had its way, all the founding fathers would be in jail. We all need to go back and read what they wrote about the importance of religion in government and stop quoting fictitious laws. If we continue to outlaw God from the public life, then George Washington will be proved a prophet, and this nation will pass the way of the Roman Empire.

Shawn P. Tunink,

Lawrence