Separation of church and state

Separation of church and state
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Today, first amendment is coupled with the phrase “separation of state and church.” The first amendment had no intention of separating Christian principles from government. In addition, the expression, “separation of state and church” is not found in the first amendment. Though, majority of people are familiar with this issue, they do not know its source. The aim of this paper is to examine the function of separation of state and church in the modern political debate.
The process of creating the first amendment traces its way from the intention of the founders. The founders did not intend United States move the same direction of what had been taking place in Great Britain. The founders knew the consequences of Great Britain declaring the Church of England as the only accepted religion in England. The founders wanted God’s principles to run the country, but not to be dominated by a single denomination. The founding fathers wanted a Christian country in which government promotes spiritual development of the citizens by encouraging them of their religious responsibilities and supporting the churches which they worship. John Adams signed the 1797 treaty with Tripoli that gave the Muslim community as reassurance that the foundation of U.S government was on the Christian religion. James Madison promoted mutual involvement of the government with the church as this would enable government officials live by religious truth and apply religion as a tool of civil policy. John F. Kennedy reiterated that United States was a country which was officially neither Jewish, Protestants nor Catholics where no government officials would either accept or request instructions on public policy from any particular religion. Furthermore, George Washington believed the all habits and dispositions that lead to morality, religion and political prosperity are essential supports.
The phrase “separation of church and state” was attributed to the letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote to Benjamin Rush in 1800. The Baptists of Danbury were concerned with the guarantee of the freedom of religion drafted in the first amendment. They believed the freedom of religion was an unalienable right and, therefore, the government should not restrict religious activities unless those activities cause harm to people. Jefferson knew their concern and responded that the freedom of religion was an unalienable right, and assured that there was a “wall of separation between state and church” to make sure that the government would not involve in any interference with religious activities. The “separation” meant the protection which the church required so that to prevent political leaders from involving in corruption and misuse of power.
Today, the phrase, “the separation between the church and state” has often been misunderstood and therefore is been applied incorrectly. Many individuals are known to have challenged, before the Supreme Court, particular Christian principles in government. For several years, the Supreme Court used a section of Jefferson’s letter to show it was allowed to maintain Christian practice...