Separation of Church and State

Separation of church and state.
Where did this phrase come from?

The Bill of Rights was written to make sure the U.S Government didn't get out of hand and revert back to the things the founding fathers fought tooth and nail over for (or for some, a way of a compromise to agreeing to the Constitution).
 But they never said "Separation of church and state."
This is what it does say.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"

Which means government can't tell the people what can and can't be done, or allow or not allow a religion to be practiced and that a president cannot outlaw every religion except for theirs.

The founding fathers made this the very first issue they addressed in the Bill of Rights. Why? because they were tired of having to live by the government issued religion given to them by the queen or king of the time. (If the country you were living in was Catholic, then so were you. Sorry, no choice in the matter.) Our founding fathers wanted to let people believe in what they want to believe! Which is genius! Because look at what religious based governments have done to countries today (check out the Middle East when you have the time). But that still leaves the question left unanswered... Where did "separation of church and state"come from?

Well you can very well see that the Bill of Rights says that the government cannot dictate what a religion is, and that the people of the U.S. would not be okay with a president who forced their religious beliefs on them.

That's where it came from. An easy way for people to refer to the Bill of Rights, and the separation it gives to our nation.


So tell me. Why do people tell me I am a terrible horrible person for not supporting laws being made for gay marriage.

(Before I go any further, let me just say. I am  not a Gay-Hater. In fact I have a couple of close friends who are gay or lesbian. And I love them just as much as anyone else. I have danced with all different kinds of people with all sorts of sexual orientation. I think that every single person in this world has the same worth and deserve the same respect.)

Marriage to me is religious. Before there were beach weddings, gazebo weddings, hotel weddings, and all the variety of weddings there are today, weddings were held in a church and before that it still had religious origins. Marriage is ordained by God and designed to be for a man and a woman. And if it started as religious, how could it end up not religious? The government giving benefits, recognizing it as legal, and marriage license is a fairly new concept (starting from the earliest humans on the earth). It's something we've created to keep track of everyone, or to promote child bearing so a country can keep up it's native population.

So if marriage is religious, then is it wrong for me to ask the government not redefine it?

Now don't get confused. I don't think that gay couples should be denied the same government, tax, or other such benefits just because that's how they define themselves. That is in fact very wrong. But in most places and states (to my knowledge) gay couples, or even a man and a woman living together, but not married can get these benefits.


I'm not trying to convert you to my beliefs. I'm not trying to tell anyone if they are righteous or not. I am simply trying to explain the origin and why I hold certain beliefs. And maybe we can understand each other a little bit better.