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Does separation of church and state actually exist in the U.S. government?
Wiki User
∙ 9y ago
The phrase "wall of separation of church and state" does not appear in the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers, coined the phrase in a letter to a group of Baptists in Connecticut in 1802.
The First Amendment to the Constitution contains the Establishment Clause, which says: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". However, Jefferson's quote above has been used in Supreme Court cases as evidence of the intent behind the Establishment Clause. James Madison also made similar quotes to Jefferson's above; additionally, Jefferson wrote laws in Virginia affirming the above.
Interestingly, the only other time the Constitution mentions religion is in Article Six, where it states that you never have to pass any religious test to hold public office.
However, the First Amendment (and Article Six) only applied to the Federal government; states were not automatically affected and were allowed to establish official religions within their borders. The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, ruled that all states were also beholden to rights stated in the Constitution.
Wiki User
∙ 9y ago
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