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Newsweek and NBC recently took polls to find out how many people believe in God. Newsweek polls finding concluded 90% of U.S. citizens believed in God. NBC results were 86%. This tells us the entire population of citizens who do not believe in God is 14% or less. Considering the results of these polling one has to ask why so many institutions are bending to the wants of a minority in a country that prides itself on fairness by majority rule.

The beginning of these roots can be found in the 1960’s Supreme Court ruling of Our Founding Father’s meaning of “Separation of Church and State.” In brevity the Supreme Court interpreted Our Founding Father’s documents to mean “Separation of Church and State” is because “The Church is religious and the State is not.” The following morning after this Supreme Court decision the front page of the New York Times had only three words, “God Is Dead.”  (Important Note: someone recently contacted me in Feb 2011 and said the actual words, "Separation of Church and State" does not appear in the First Amendments of the Constitution, as I wrote above. This person is correct but the wording in the First Amendment says exactly the same as "Separation of Church and State") To prove this point this article now has an extended version of itself to offer sound proof that what is written in the First Amendment and what is called "The Separation of Church and State" amounts to exact same conclusion. See "First Amendment" at the bottom of this article for this noted addition.

I am a descendent of Francis Eaton who was on the ship Mayflower that landed in the state of what we now call Massachusetts. To this day I still live in the State of Massachusetts just a few miles from where the English pilgrims landed. Most Americans have heard of “New England,” but few realize this is a formation in reference to old England where the pilgrims came from. There are certainly many reasons this small group of English citizens left England to find a new land but one of the main reason was persecution between religious fractions in England dating back to the times of King Henry VIII.

King Henry wanted to divorce his wife but the church at the time which was Catholic would not allow the divorce. After evaluation, the Church determined the King’s marriage was in the guidelines of what is called, “The Diamond of Consent.” Determined to divorce his wife, Henry plotted to make himself the head of the Church as in the days where Kings ruled the religious communities (see Old Testament “Book of Kings.”)

King Henry’s takeover of the Church caused a huge uproar and division within the Church. In the end about half of the Church decided to continue the dogma of the Church as handed down, while the other half of the Church sided with the King. This lead to a split in the Church and the Catholic version of the Old Testament and the King James version reflect these differences in many ways. The result of the split continues to this day causing friction and strong debate between different Christian beliefs.

The pilgrims on the Mayflower were not a group of close friends seeking a safe haven from religious persecution. The pilgrims were in fact from a number of different English provinces. The pilgrims by the same token were not all Catholic either. They were in fact different Christian fractions who felt each had a right to worship freely. As such, this is a clear indication that the foundation of America and “Separation of Church and State, is a document designed as written in the “Fifth Amendment,” freedom of religion. In short the concept of this new land would hold true each individuals rights to practice religious beliefs yet maintain full membership in civil society. These facts clearly shows the Supreme Courts interpretation of “Separation of Church and State” is clearly flawed and was redefined based on the age and modernism which took place in the 1960’s. As part of the 60’s generation it was good to “Do your thing,” meaning almost anything was okay if it felt good. This was the generation of “Flower Children,” “Hippies” and “Free Love.” I confess I myself was caught up in the beliefs of this generation but realize now such behavior is not of God. It is my opinion the redefined meaning of “Separation of Church and State,” was in part a declaration of the 60’s generation which has allowed many acts to be acceptable without feeling any guilt which is not the proper translation of Our Forefathers declaration of “Separation of Church and State.”

Religious group attempted to fight the new ruling by the Supreme Court about Church and State stating belief in God created a sense of morals and discipline in a civil society. Regardless of their efforts the decision of the Supreme Court was upheld and we entered a new age of what I call “The Self Image,” and the “Demoralized Plague.” Today we can’t deny the state of this country is one big mess. The love of the self image has brought this country to its knees by way of grave sin and degradation of society. Today our prisons are overcrowded and crime on the streets are at record levels never before known in the history of our country.

I have to scratch my head trying to make sense of the direction American is headed. Our Lady of Medjugorje clearly indicated during the early days of the apparition that the Western World has lost God. The redefined “Separation of Church and State,” opened the door to hell though what today is polled at only 14% of the population. In school we use to pray to God but that was taken away by law of “Separation of Church and State.” It has allowed lack of morals leading to birth control and abortion and the evil list goes on an on. Now this 14% of unbelievers continue to make argument that God should be removed from all printed money, the “Pledge of Allegiance,” all patriotic songs such as “God Bless America,” from testimony in court where we swear to tell the whole truth, so help us God, and a host of other violations on which our country was truly founded. If America continues to let this 14% of nonbelievers overtake our country you can bet your bottom dollar this country will be likened to Sodom and Gomorrah.

For those who would take the time to read their bibles a little, I would highly recommend the story of Lot and his family and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis Chapters 18 and 19 recommended reading.)

"First Amendment"

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The Amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting and establishment of religion. This Amendment was debated and challenged many times even in the 17^th century. Even so, the wording of the First Amendment gave rise to Thomas Jefferson’s letter in 1802. The wording (in part) is

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘Make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”

The above phrasing first appeared within the Supreme Court in 1878 as a result of a court case. The concept of challenging “separation of Church and State,” continues in the court system today.

Exactly how did the Supreme Court come to these words and why did they give rise to Jefferson’s letter? The answer to this question is found in the United States Constitution in the Bill of Rights in the first 16 words of Amendment One, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Apparently vague or at least open to debate, many cased appeared before the courts as religious fractions of individuals made argument. These arguments allowed a twisting of the meaning of the First Amendment as we find in cases such as Everson vs. Board of Education 1947, which was a landmark decision for its time.

During his campaign the issues of defining the meaning of the First Amendment which was now firmly accepted as “separation of Church and State,” Kennedy gave many speeches as a Catholic on this topic. On September 12, 1960 Kennedy gave a speech as followed.

“I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute- where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote-where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference-and where no man is denied public office merely because his religions differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him. I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish-where no public official either request of accepts instruction on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source-where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials-and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all […] I do not speak for my church on public matters-and the church does not speak for me. Whatever issue may come before me as President-on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling or any other subject-I will make my decision in accordance with these views, in accordance with what my conscience tell me to be the national interest, and without regard to outside religious pressures or dictates. And no power or threat of punishment could cause me to decide otherwise. But if the time should overcome- and I do not concede any conflict to be even remotely possible-when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, than I would resign the office: and I hope any conscientious public servant would do the same. “

The Constitution was signed in 1787. The Fist Amendment (along with the rest of the Bill of Rights) was submitted to the States for ratification on September 25, 1789, and adopted on December 15, 1791. During the campaign of John F. Kennedy (1960) the First Amendment of the Constitution of the Bill of Rights was still a debatable unresolved issue. After the election of President Kennedy the Supreme Court considered the original writings of the Constitution. The First Amendment was considered to mean, “Separation of Church and State.”  The Supreme Courts finding stated the meaning of our forefathers writing of the First Amendment was to say, The Church is religious and the State is not.” This was the beginning of sorrows in the United States which started the next day with the words, “GOD IS DEAD,” on the New York Times.  This was not, is not now and never will be a true definition of what our forefathers meant.

Even Thomas Jefferson who wrote the letter of the “Wall of separation,” was a profoundly religious man. The founding fathers who signed the Constitution and the Pilgrims who came to this new land (that today we call, New England as opposed to old England) were all religious. These religious men believe in God and in the First Amendment wrote they had no right to involve themselves in matters of God. Yet the Supreme Court in 1966 redefined the meaning of the first Amendment to mean, “The Church is religious and the State is not.”

The Supreme Court for whatever reason chooses to open a door that never existed in the first place. Today as a result one need only look at prayer removed from school, lack of morals and discipline and a country that is in such a mess now it may not be fixable.

Please allow me to explain why I wrote what I did above. According to many studies, thought we may live in the information age, people want the information fast and quick. Long articles are some 63% less likely to be read over short versions. The way I presented the article you read was trying to make the shortest possible article for maximum readership. Short versions do not always come out as clear as they should be, yet what is left out of the article does not change the end result of the article.

Having said this please know that the debate of if the words, “Separation of Church and State” appear in the Constitution or not is really splitting hairs. People once believed the world was flat too. No matter how we read it, these words, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” means there is a separation of Church and State. Again we find in the letter written by Thomas Jefferson that he concurs.

The Pilgrims came here to escape the religious persecution in England. The Pilgrims sort a new land where each person would have freedom of worship without persecution. Even so, the people still had to establish a State with rights and laws to govern fairly. In part the State chooses not to favor one religion over another yet that all should have right to be members of civil society. However, once again court cases and debates going on hundreds of years lead the Supreme Courts decision in 1966, which again states that what our forefather meant by the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting and establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” really means, “The Church is religious and the State is not.”

I am a decent of Francis Eaton who was a passenger on the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. She also signed “The Mayflower Compact,” in 1620. I still live only a few miles from Plymouth, Massachusetts where the Pilgrims landed and make their new home. Each summer I still visit all the family graves cleaning them and praying for the departed. My point is I do take my heritage and family history seriously and the Constitution would also therefore apply.   

I hope this note has cleared this matter up. I did not overlook Jefferson nor did I overlook the fact the actual wording of “Separation of Church and State” does not physically appear in the Amendment word for word, yet what exists in the Amendment says the same thing as “Separation of Church and State,” This fact has been noted by countless sources throughout History and confirmed by the Supreme Court.

If you would like to write Medjugorje USA, I welcome your comments:
email:info at Medjugorje USA