The Separation of Church and State
Common political discourse in the United States currently revolves around the separation of church and state, intentions of the framers, and control of the general populace through placation and morals.
The origins of this myth stems from language within the Constitution, where “separation of church and state” is not distinctly enumerated. The Framers grew up within the Enlightenment and as deists, believed in science and reason over divinity. While the words are not in the Constitution, the idea is. Article VI says that officials of the state must be bound to the state by oath but there shall be no religious test for qualification. The Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment says “ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. This means the government cannot have an official religion or encourage practice of a given denomination.
“Separation” as policy stems from a letter President Jefferson wrote to a Baptist congregation where he used the words “wall of separation” to refer to protections given to new and minority denominations from the government.
“But our money, it has ‘In God We Trust’ on it, meaning the government doesn’t actually have or want a separation of church and state.” “That ubiquitous motto has been used to bolster arguments for school prayer, Nativity scenes in public places, tax dollars for parochial schools”.
The motto’s history is not as old as our nation and has more to do with politics than religion. The motto originated on coin currency during the Civil War when there was a religious revival and was to indicate to the world what the money and the nation stood for. President Teddy Roosevelt attempted to remove the saying from the currency in the early 1900’s but received backlash and Congress had to end the attempt. The motto began showing on the paper currency in 1957, when piety in Washington had deepened, at the height of the Cold War to distinguish the US from communist rivals.
In 1970, Stefan Aronow sued Washington D.C. to remove the motto from currency because it violated the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment. Courts ruled against Aronow because “Its use is of patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise”.
“The Pledge of Allegiance was first written in 1892 for a magazine contest, and it read: “I Pledge Allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The Pledge became part of the US Flag Code in 1942, and in 1954 President Eisenhower and Congress added the phrase “under God” into the Pledge.” The origins of the current Pledge of Allegiance has similar origins to that of the motto on paper currency during the Cold War.
Arguments for removing “under God” from the Pledge include that the original Pledge notes that our nation is indivisible and that all people of various backgrounds can overcome their differences, but “under God” pits majority against minority will. It also is argued that the statement isn’t patriotic in nature but encourages a religious militantism. While it doesn’t break the establishment clause via establishment of a denomination, it does establish preference of those religions who believe in God over those who do not.
Arguments for keeping “under God” in the Pledge stem from statements Eisenhower made on their inclusion, like the rededication of American children towards patriotism. Another argument says this allegiance to God makes the government recognize that it is not the provider of rights and thus cannot take them away from the people.
