"Christian values should dominate our government... Politicians who do not use the Bible to guide their public and private lives do not belong in office."
- Beverly LaHaye, Concerned Women for America
"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries."
- James Madison, 4th president of the United States
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Beverly LaHaye or James Madison: whose side are you on?
With Presidents' Day just a few days away, it's time to celebrate the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, who enshrined the separation of church and state in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Join DefCon and remind our fellow Americans that keeping religion out of government was one of the founders' most enlightened commitments.
Click here to write a letter to the editor of your local paper supporting this critical American principle (we've even provided some handy talking points to get you started).
Our Founding Fathers knew that a strong American democracy, and religious freedom for all, required building a wall between church and state. Despite this, religious right leaders like James Dobson, Beverly LaHaye, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson have waged war both on this central American principle and the freedoms it allows. Their campaign hopes to revise American history, ignoring our commitment to the separation of church and state and replacing it with a government based on their narrow ideology.
Fortunately, our founders made clear their opposition to the mixing of government and religion. Leaders like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison frequently commented on the importance of separating church and state, and, in the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, George Washington's administration emphatically stated, "the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."
Show your support for the wall between church and state and write a letter to the editor of your local paper today. Click here to write a letter to the editor.
Not sure what to say? Join the conversation at the DefCon blog . Our members have gathered some great resources on what the Founding Fathers really had to say about religion in government. Check out the quotes and links we've gathered, or add your own.
Happy Presidents' Day,
Clark and the rest of the DefCon team
© 2007 DefCon: Campaign to Defend the Constitution
info@defconamerica.org
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