No State Religion But With Free Exercise Thereof by Miguel A. Faria, MD

The American Founders were familiar with the historic situation in Scotland during the Reformation and before the Act of Union with Great Britain. The Presbyterian Church led by John Knox (1514–1572) had ruled as a virtual theocracy, enforced conformity throughout the land, persecuted Catholics, burned heretics, and had even manipulated the effective deposition of Mary Stuart (Queen of Scotts; 1542–1587), who was beheaded by Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603).

Moreover, in England the Civil War (1642–1649) was a dark chapter in the history of Great Britain as well as a lesson on the evils of war, particularly religious wars. It also emphasized the incendiary role that state religions play in war, religious zeal, and savagery.

Although the English Puritans and the Scottish Presbyterians favored a Protestant theocratic government and followed the stern sobriety of Calvinism, they differed in their outlook and politics during the English Civil War. The Puritans continued to emphasize the austerity of the Old Testament, while the Scotts were more influenced by the charitable teachings in the New Testament. Nevertheless, the Scots did not condone the behavior of their Queen Mary Stuart and opposed her rule as previously noted. A few years later, for both political and religious considerations, the Scottish Presbyterians also betrayed their King, and it was the English Parliament largely made-up of Puritans and the Roundheads led by Oliver Cromwell (later, Lord Protector, 1653–1658) that condemned and executed the Stuart King Charles I (r. 1625–1649).

Religious Intolerance, Savagery, and Man’s Inhumanity to Man

Because the Irish were Catholics, Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) treated them harshly and brutally. He was proud of his cruelty. Cromwell invaded Ireland during the English Civil War, and after defeating the rebellious Irish Catholics with the storming of Drogheda, north of Dublin, he wrote to the English Parliament:

‘In the heat of action, I forbade them to spare any that were in arms in the town, and, I think, that night they put to the sword about 2,000 men. Divers of the officers and soldiers being fled over the Bridge into the other part of the Town, where about one hundred of them possessed St Peter’s steeple [and two other Towers]… I ordered the steeple of St Peter’s to be fired where one of them was heard to say in the midst of the flames: ‘God damn me, God confound me: I burn. I burn’ …. The next day, the other two Towers were summonsed…. When they submitted, their officers were knocked on the head, and every tenth man of the soldiers killed, and the others shipped [as slaves] to the Barbadoes… The last Lord’s Day before the storm, the Protestants were thrust out of the great church called St Peter’s and they had a public Mass there; and in this very place near one thousand Catholics were put to the sword, fleeing thither for safety. I believe all the friars were knocked promiscuously on the head but two; the one of which was Fr Peter Taaff… whom the soldiers took and made an end of; the other was taken in the round tower, under the repute of lieutenant, and when he understood that the officers in the Tower had no quarter, he confessed he was a friar; but that did not save him.’

Despite the Restoration of King Charles II (r. 1660–1685), the brief reign of his brother King James II (r. 1685–1688), a Catholic himself who was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution, and the adoption of the English Bill of Rights of 1689, Catholics continued to be persecuted in Great Britain. They were excluded from holding public office, and specifically proscribed from keeping firearms. Not until the advent of the Catholic emancipation process in the 19th century and Irish home rule in the 20th century did the persecution of Catholics end.

Suffice to say, the American Founders were cognizant of history and with great political foresight, and good reason, wanted no repetition of that kind of experience in America. They did not want to have an established religion or a state church, but neither did they want to ban religion or Judeo-Christian morality. They wanted freedom of religion and freedom of conscience in the new tree of liberty in America.

Jefferson and the “Wall of Separation”

“A wall of separation in church and state,” constitutes a figure of speech extracted from Thomas Jefferson’s response to a query from the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut, regarding the establishment of a religious denomination in their state. To their query, Jefferson offered his opinion:

… 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.

Thus, Jefferson’s “wall of separation” referred only to the forbiddance of the establishment of a state religion or church as enumerated in the U.S. Constitution, and not to a ban on religion from public life.

But in 1947, the floodgates were opened after Jefferson’s phrase was equated to the establishment clause in the First Amendment. Since that time, his figure of speech has been used repeatedly to encroach on the “free exercise thereof.”

In fact, only 11 years later, the New York Supreme Court acknowledged in Baer v. Kolmorgen:

Much has been written in recent years concerning Thomas Jefferson’s reference in 1802 to ‘wall of separation between church and state.’ . . . Jefferson’s figure of speech has received so much attention that one would almost think at times that it is to be found somewhere in our Constitution.

In today’s strictly secular climate, one will find the phrase used frequently by activist judges, the fecundity of memoranda of American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyers, and in the popular culture. Court rulings have censored exhibition of Christian religious faith, such as public discussions and orations (prayer), and have declared those activities unconstitutional.

The Founders and the Judeo-Christian Faith

Faith and religion provide an invisible support to the moral code, encourage personal discipline, and promote civility. Their influence on moral conduct and overt behavior is certain. Founding Father, early abolitionist, lawyer, and devout Presbyterian, Elias Boudinot, who became President of the Continental Congress in 1783, supported Judeo-Christian religious values. On behalf of George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, mentioned in chapter 6, Boudinot stated to Congress, “I could not think of letting the session pass over without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining, with one voice, in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings he had poured down upon them.”

Boudinot later became a trustee of Princeton, heading that institution for nearly fifty years. He also wrote: “Good government generally begins in the family, and if the moral character of a people once degenerate, their political character must soon follow.” Although similar pronouncements by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton were cited in chapter 7, it is worth quoting Hamilton again:

The fundamental source of all your errors, sophisms and false reasonings is a total ignorance of the natural rights of mankind. Were you once to become acquainted with these, you could never entertain a thought, that all men are not, by nature, entitled to a parity of privileges. You would be convinced, that natural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator to the whole human race, and that civil liberty is founded in that; and cannot be wrested from any people, without the most manifest violation of justice.

The Declaration of Independence, primarily authored by Thomas Jefferson, refers to the “Creator” and “Nature’s God.” And on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., the following inscriptions appear:

On the frieze encircling the Rotunda: “…I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

On the Northwest Portico: “Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens…are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion…No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively.”

On the Northeast Portico: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism. Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. Establish a law for educating the common people. This it is the business of the state and on a general plan.”

The Jefferson Memorial was built between 1939 and 1943. It would be virtually impossible for those inscriptions to appear on the monument in the present secular, anti-religious climate, which is especially spiteful of the Christian religion.

Concluding With Thomas Paine

Finally, it is noteworthy to mention Thomas Paine (1737–1809), the English author, revolutionary and pamphleteer, whose first essay in The American Crisis was read aloud to the Continental Army at Valley Forge on December 23, 1776. In that essay, Paine wrote:

THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.

Paine’s popularity in America suffered when he became more radical in his views espousing the French Revolution. Paine wrote The Age of Reason, a work embracing the deist views of the French revolutionists. But as the wheels of the revolution in France continued to turn, Paine almost lost his head to the guillotine after his circle of Girondin friends fell from power.

William J. Federer noted in America’s God and Country that Thomas Paine had a profound change in his religious views later in life and wrote that, “I would give worlds, if I had them, if the Age of Reason had never been published. O Lord, help! Stay with me! It is hell to be left alone.” On his deathbed, Paine uttered his last words, “I die in perfect composure and resignation to the will of my Creator, God.” In time, Thomas Paine regained his place in American history.

In conclusion, religious instruction encourages and helps maintain civility, morality, and lawful behavior, so that law and order is preserved easier with less police force having to be used to preserve the peace. Judeo-Christian instruction props up the moral code. Yet, communities have been attacked for displaying Christian symbols during Holy Week and Christmas, and for using such phrases as “In God We Trust.” Likewise, school prayer and the Ten Commandments have been removed from public schools and most public places. America is a Christian nation, a tolerant nation with no official state religion but with religious freedom. Judeo-Christian instruction should no longer be banned from schools and public life. It is high time that Americans are allowed to examine their factual historical and religious legacy, and to pursue their faith in freedom, inside and outside their homes.

Written by Dr. Miguel A. Faria

Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D. is Associate Editor in Chief world affairs of Surgical Neurology International (SNI) and the author of numerous books. This article is excerpted and updated from Dr. Faria’s 2024 book Contrasting Ideals and Ends in the American and French Revolutions.

This article may be cited as: Faria MA. No State Religion But With Free Exercise Thereof. HaciendaPublishing, April 29, 2025. Available from: https://haciendapublishing.com/no-state-religion-but-with-free-exercise-thereof-by-miguel-a-faria-md/.

Copyright ©2025 Miguel A. Faria, Jr., MD