The United States

The author demolishes the modern myth that the United States was founded by deists or humanists bent on creating a secular republic. This is an introduction to the Rushdoony's work.



Excerpt:

No Separation of Church and State



The First Amendment therefore did not separate church and state. All that it says with respect to religion is simply this: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” All this means and all that it meant to the thirteen states was simply this: First, the federal government was barred from interfering with the Christian laws and establishments of the thirteen states. This was a matter of states rights exclusively. Each state was free to develop its own Christian legal framework without any interference from the federal government. The Supreme Court today has interfered with that right. It has barred prayer from the schools as supposedly unconstitutional, although not only prayer, but extensive Bible teaching had prevailed from the beginning of the Constitution up to the Warren Court. Second, the First Amendment, by barring the federal government from interfering, was thereby underwriting the validity of every state establishment and law in every one of the states. It was not only affirming the right of the states to be Christian republics, but it was also pledging itself against interference with those Christian orders and giving them its tacit approval. The First Amendment was thus a guarantee to Christian establishments and laws.