More on the origin of the term "separation of church and state."
Thank you, thank you, everyone, for the ill-deserved bouquets.
I say "ill-deserved" because even though Jefferson's reference to the "wall of separation" is the most frequently cited use of the term, Roger Williams had the jump on Jefferson chronologically.
Roger Williams, 1644"
When they have opened a gap in the . . . wall of separation between the Garden of the Church and the wildernes of the world, God hath ever . . . made his Garden a Wildernesse.
sunnetworks.net
And in 1785, in his Memorial and Remonstrance, the "Father of the Constitution, James Madison refers to a "separation" of powers, as well as to a "great Barrier' (that wall again!).
We maintain therefore that in matters of Religion, no man's
right is abridged by the institution of Civil Society and that Religion is wholly exempt from its cognizance..... Because Religion be exempt from the authority of the Society at large, still less can it be subject to that of the Legislative Body..... The preservation of a free Government requires not merely, that the metes and bounds which separate each department of power be invariably maintained; but more especially that neither of them be suffered to overleap the great Barrier which defends the rights of the people....
law.ou.edu
In later years, Madison used several variants of the term to describe a principle he felt was enshrined in the Constitution.
Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States, the danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies, may be illustrated by precedents already furnished in their short history."
-- undated
The civil government . . . functions with complete success . . . by the total separation of the Church from the State.
-- 1819
Every new & successful example therefore of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance.
-- 1822
sunnetworks.net
Especially interesting here, in my view, is how active the Baptists were in promoting and defending the principle of church-state separation. (As some of them still are: see, for example, the web site of the Baptist Joint Committee: <http://www.erols.com/bjcpa/>)
Roger Williams's Rhode Island, after all, was the only colony to guarantee full religious liberty. What may be an interesting book on the subject has just come out: New England Dissent, 1630-1883 : The Baptists and the Separation of Church and State, by William G. McLoughlin.
Again, Jefferson's famous "wall of separation" letter was written to Connecticut Baptists, who resented having to pay taxes to support the official church of the state -- Congregationalism. In fact, the Congregationalist Church of Connecticut was not disestablished until some time in the 1820's.
Which brings us to a question that both you and Christopher have touched on, and to which I personally do not know the answer. And that is: why were the states initially left free to legislate matters of religion?
Joan
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