THE CLAUSE OF SEPARATION

Texas governor Rick Perry is catching all sorts of flack over his "violation" of the "separation clause" of the Constitution June 5 when he went to a church school in Fort Worth to sign a bill making it illegal for a girl under 18 to have an abortion without parental consent.

Again, the question arises in my mind, where is this "clause of separation" in our Constitution?

Read the document and you find there is none.

The first amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified December 15, 1791, states:

"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."

Say what?

In simple terms the government shall make no law establishing a religion for America -- neither shall it prohibit the free exercise thereof.

Thomas Jefferson , as governor of Virginia in 1777, drafted an Act for the Establishment of Religious Freedom. This was later modified and became law in Virginia in 1786.

In part the article states:

Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.'

Note that the Virginia article maintains that no person shall be forced to take part in religious events -- and by the same token no man shall be restrained from doing so.

According to our laws, can religion be taught in a public school?

Absolutely!

To prevent it would be an act of depriving a man free access to religion.

Any laws that have come about since 1791 regarding religion and restrictions placed on it, are merely the product of nine Supreme Court justices writing legislation, an act in itself that is prohibited by the Constitution.

So lets put it all into perspective.

During the last presidential campaign, then Vice President Al Gore (a Democrat) delivered the Sunday morning "sermon" at Potter's House, a high dollar mega church in Dallas TX. It was nothing more than a campaign speech which was written solely to solicit votes for the Democratic ticket.

Clearly the media found no violation of the clause of spearation in this act because it favored a liberal agenda.

Yet Gov. Perry (a Republican) did "violate" the mythical clause when he sat down in the gym of a church to sign a bill.

I just wonder -- if Thomas Jefferson had known the mess we would make over his choice of words "a wall or separation" -- do you think he would have ever written it down?