By way of reminder…
I mentioned the book, Ten Tortured Words, a few blogs ago. The book took it’s title from the first ten words in the American Bill of Rights.
Here they are.
“Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion.”
There would be no “Church of England” or Church of any state for that matter. Men and women would be free. Free to believe. Very cool.
In America, we’ve begun to interpret these ten words in isolation and out of context. We’ve taken a letter from Jefferson to the Danbury congregation and used that as the basis for constructing “a wall of seperation” between Church and State.
Talk about missing the point.
The founding fathers must be doing more than turning in their graves. None of them, including Jefferson, could have possibly thought we would worship the “god of reason” at the exclusion of all others.
In practice, we are.
We have told the founders to “net it out” too. Here’s the first SIXTEEN letters of the American Bill of Rights. Check it out…it seems there are six forgotten words!
“Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF.”
If you’re curious, check out one of these reads to challenge your thinking…
The Great Experiment, by Os Guinness
Ten Tortured Words, by Stephen Mansfield
The American Hour, by Os Guinness
American Gospel, by Jon Meacham
Founding Brothers, by Joseph Ellis
The Founding Fathers on Leadership, by Donald Phillips
BUILT TO LEAD 