A Wall of Separation

Post date: Oct 12, 2019 6:15:37 AM

Jefferson with Franklin

Thomas Jefferson's reply on Jan. 1, 1802, to an address from the Danbury (Conn.) Baptist Association, congratulating him upon his election as president, contains a phrase that is as familiar in today's political and judicial circles as the lyrics of a hit tune: "a wall of separation between church and state." This phrase has become well known because it is considered to explain (many would say, distort) the "religion clause" of the First Amendment to the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion ...," a clause whose meaning has been the subject of passionate dispute for the past 50 years...

http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danbury.html

https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-religious-beliefs