Brooke Allen, in The Los Angeles Times, reminds us that the founders of the republic were skeptical of the entanglement of government and religion with a quick overview of some of James Madison’s thoughts on the topic.
The people who really did build this nation most definitely did not define “religious freedom” as the right of churches or other religious groups to benefit from taxpayer dollars.
Madison, in particular, was an unambiguous skeptic who believe that there was a definitive wall between church and state, Allen writes. Madison disapproved of
churches and religious societies being given a “legal agency” (including taxpayer funds) to carry into effect “a public and civil duty.” The public weal is the responsibility of the government itself, funded through taxation. Any charitable work churches might undertake is “pious charity,” and as such a voluntary act on the part of church members.
He wasn’t opposed to church work, but against the entanglement. The same goes for today’s so-called “separationists”:
Separationists are not attacking religion. They are merely reminding us that religion and church membership, under our Constitution, are defined as voluntary — the general population cannot be compelled to underwrite any particular church. That is what freedom of religion means.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
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Hank Kalet 