Separation of Church and State and Other Fiction
While researching a homily for this Thursday, I came across George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation from 1789. It begins " Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits...."
This doesn't sound to me like someone who thought God should be completely removed from our vocabulary and from every public space. The Constitution prohibits the establishment of a "state religion" such as the Church of England, which the founders left behind when they came to the New World. It says nothing about "separation of church and state" because that's not what they had in mind. It's pretty clear that they understood that God can't be separated from anything since He created it all. You can read Washington's proclamation here.
Abraham Lincoln, in his 1863 Proclamation bagan with a discussion of all the blessings the nation had received in that year and said, " No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. "
Read it here.
This doesn't sound to me like someone who thought God should be completely removed from our vocabulary and from every public space. The Constitution prohibits the establishment of a "state religion" such as the Church of England, which the founders left behind when they came to the New World. It says nothing about "separation of church and state" because that's not what they had in mind. It's pretty clear that they understood that God can't be separated from anything since He created it all. You can read Washington's proclamation here.
Abraham Lincoln, in his 1863 Proclamation bagan with a discussion of all the blessings the nation had received in that year and said, " No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. "
Read it here.
posted by Mike at 3:34 PM
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