Establishment
President John F. Kennedy on the separation of church and state.
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute — where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote — where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference … I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish — where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source — where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials.
I concur.
Many believe the 1st Ammendment to the Constitution guarantees a separation of church and state. In fact, it does not. It reads as follows: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
What the first ammendment DOES is to prohibit the establishment of any national religion. Many, if not most, of our founding fathers (or thier fathers) came to this country to escape religious persecution. They left behind most of what they owned and risked their lives to come to a country where they could worship as they wished. After the American Revolution, they wanted to ensure that this new country would not once again try to infringe on their religious liberties. Hence, the first ammendment.
I agree with President Kennedy on one point. I also believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish. That's what the framers of the Bill of Rights had in mind. But to insinuate that a person's religion could not, or should not ever influence a decision is wrong. I admire a person who stands up for his or her faith. I admire someone who stands by convictions. That right is actually guaranteed by the second phrase in the first ammendment "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,". If I were JFK, a Catholic president with many extramarital affairs and illicit actions in my closet, I wouldn't want the Pope to tell me how to live either. The right to free speech is a basic civil liberty in our country. The right to vote for the candidate of your choice in a private manner is another. It's the intermingling of these two that keeps things interesting.