La separación entre el estado y la iglesia

Ojalá fuera yo el escritor de este relato, describiendo la posición de los Padres Fundadores de la Unión Americana en cuanto a la religión, y la consecuente doctrina de separación entre el estado y la iglesia, frecuentemente llamada la "pared" de separación, pero de la cual yo digo es una de las columnas que refuerzan la Constitución Americana.

En esta época de fundamentalismo y fervor religioso, ilustrado por las masas en el Vaticano, y las bombas humanas en el medio-oriente, hay aquellos quien mostrando la mascara de la religión piadosa, se esmeran for sabotear esta columna fundamental que a mantenido la Unión Americana como el ejemplo por excelencia de la estabilidad y la paz política.

From: Christian Science Monitor Blog My American Experience Archive March, 2005

Posted March 17, 2005
'The Handmaid's Tale' and the Founding Fathers
By Tom Regan

The law drives the religious right crazy. As a result, even staunch conservative judges who make rulings that strictly interpret the Constitution as supporting the separation of church and state, are decried as "judicial activists." It's a great case of accusing your opponents of doing the very thing you are doing yourself.
The Founding Fathers, of course, had very strong views about the role of religion. George Washington viewed it very favorably, although historians note that he was careful not to malign or disparage any religious belief, including non-Christian ones.
In Benjamin Franklin, the 'first American,' there was no stronger voice for the importance of "tolerance" toward all religious beliefs. Thomas Jefferson, meanwhile, who had strong religious beliefs of his own bent, nevertheless felt it should basically be kept as far away from government as possible.
Jefferson also felt that the idea of "The Creator" should not be a specifically Christian one. Take, for example, the following quote from his autobiography, in reference to the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom (which Jefferson wrote, and considered one of the greatest achievements of his life), and the basis for the religion clauses in the Constitution's Bill of Rights:
Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.

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