Where Did Separation of Church and State Come From?
The idea of “separation of church and state” is not spelled out in the Declaration of Independence. Nor the Constitution. In fact it’s never spelled out. It is implied by the First Amendment to the Constitution (part of the Bill of Rights, established in 1791): “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.” Thomas Jefferson often gets a lot of credit for the thinking that preceded the First Amendment’s freedom of religion wording. But the concept might never have come about if a radical immigrant named Roger Williams hadn’t argued for it. Very persistently. “Forced worship stinks in God’s nostrils,” Williams once said. During the 17th century, many people left England to escape religious persecution. Many colonists came to America to be able to freely practice t
