The Separation of Church and State

Several British colonies in America maintained religious tolerance even before the Revolution. Only four of the thirteen colonies, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, did not have an organized, tax-supported church. Following the Revolution, both states and the federal government took efforts to ensure religious freedom and to de-emphasize the role of the government in religious matters. A religious test as a prerequisite for holding a government job was forbidden by Article Six of the United States Constitution.

More crucially, the United States Constitution's First Amendment declared in 1791 that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." As a result of the passage of the Constitution and later the First Amendment, the United States became the first country to establish a nationwide separation of religion and state. The word "the separation of Church and State" isn't mentioned in the constitution, nevertheless. More precisely, the Constitution encourages religious liberty and bans the federal government from interfering with people's ability to worship as they see fit.

The lessons of history, the objectives of the Revolution, the principles of Protestantism, and the realities of plurality convinced Americans during the Revolutionary era that separating church and state would better safeguard the Christian faith. Revolutionary-era Americans realized that the state could not meddle with the dictates of conscience without becoming totalitarian, a lesson we may learn from religious politics throughout the world today. On the other hand, by maintaining the separation of Church and State, we may affirm both our political and religious traditions.