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One Nation Under God

This chapter covers America's history and relationship with God.

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What is the story behind the myth of The Separation of Church and State?

The phrase "separation of church and state" is not found in the Constitution! In fact, this often over used and misunderstood phrase is NOT taken from any of our founding documents, but rather from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote January 1, 1802 to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut.

The Danbury Baptists were troubled by a rumor that another denomination was to become the official national religion. Thomas Jefferson used this phrase to assure them that no official state religion would be declared.

We need to remember that the fear of having an official national religion was very troubling to people who knew about religious persecution in England by the state established church. Jefferson made it clear in his letter to the Danbury Congregation that the separation was to be that government would not establish a national religion or dictate to men how to worship God.

This question was answered by Jeremy Petersen.
It was last updated on April 6, 2006 at 8:32:01 AM CDT.

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