Letter to the Editor: Factually false statement

By Sun Advocate

Editor:
One of the most biased, “politically correct” but factually false phrases of our day is the phrase we read almost daily in the media – “constitutional separation of church and state.” Our courts rule again and again using that phrase.
Will our courts and our media ever face the truth of history that “separation of church and state” is not a creation of the Constitution. It is a creation of the judiciary (i.e. Everson vs. The Board of Education, 1947). Nowhere in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights or in the very detailed Congressional Records of the proceedings and debates developing these documents, can the phase “separation of church and state” be found. That phrase does not exist anywhere in American history until over a decade after the Constitution was written (Jefferson -1801).
The fact is, Thomas Jefferson, who originated the phrase “separation of church and state,” was not involved in the writing of either the Constitution or the Bill of Rights! When these documents were being written, Jefferson was serving in Europe as America’s Ambassador to France.
Prior to 1947, Jefferson was quoted only one time in a Supreme Court case. Since 1947, he has been quoted (and misrepresented) over 3000 times as the primary authority on the Constitution even though he was not involved in its writing.
I challenge both the media and the judges to have the courage to say it correctly. It isn’t “constitutional separation of church and state.” It is “judicial separation of church and state.”