To the editor:
It was written in a recent paper that we need to keep religion out of the White House citing Thomas Jefferson’s words “separation of church and state” as justification.
But a history lesson is needed.
A preacher in the newly created United States wrote to Jefferson asking how religious freedom would be protected in America?
The only thing the founders knew was European autocratic monarchies that infringed on religious freedom.
As a result, Jefferson wrote back that there would be a separation for church and state. This did not mean that the state would be free from religious influence, but rather the church would be free from the state influence. In the rotunda of the Senate is a statue of Moses holding the law. The Pledge of Allegiance states “one nation under God.” The Declaration of Independence states.
“that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator.” It is self-evident that if a separation o f church and state was intended to keep God out of government then the founding documentswouldnot include references to God.
America without Judeo-Christian would be a worse nation. Equality cannot/would not exist, there would be less orphanages, hospitals, women’s clinics, homeless shelters, food pantries, etc. The reason we have these benefits is because of our Judeo-Christian values command us to do so. Evolution says the strongest survive so equality, object morality, and selflessness are without base.
David Sattler Maple city
