The First Amendment part two

In this post will be presented additional facts excluded from the previous installment on the First Amendment for the sake of brevity. It serves to further illustrate, with yet more evidence, that the First Amendment is egregiously distorted by modern "secular"Marxists.

In 1892 the United States Supreme Court affirmed (former Supreme Court Justice) Joseph Story's exposition on the meaning of the First amendment more than half a century prior.

"Even the Constitution of the United States, which is supposed to have little touch upon the private life of the individual, contains in the First Amendment a declaration common to the constitutions of all the states, as follows: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

To what "state" declarations is the court above referring?

"There shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this province, in preference to another." - Constitution of New Jersey, 1776. 

"There shall be no establishment of any one religious church or denomination in this State, in preference to any other." - Constitution of North Carolina, 1776. 

"There shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this State in preference to another." - Constitution of Delaware, 1776. 

"We, the representatives of the freemen of Pennsylvania, in general convention met, for the express purpose of framing such a government, confessing the goodness of the great Governor of the universe [...] without partiality for, or prejudice against any particular class, sect, or denomination of men whatever." - Constitution of Pennsylvania, 1776. 

"We the representatives of the freemen of Vermont, in General Convention met, for the express purpose of forming such a government, confessing the goodness of the Great Governor of the universe [...] without partiality for, or prejudice against, any particular class, sect, or denomination of men whatever." - Constitution of Vermont, 1777. 

"Every denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves peaceably, and as good subjects of the commonwealth, shall be equally under the protection of the law: and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law." - Constitution of Massachusetts, 1780. 

"Every person, denomination or sect shall be equally under the protection of the law; and no subordination of any one sect, denomination or persuasion to another shall ever be established." - Constitution of New Hampshire, 1784. 

"No preference shall be given by law to any christian sect or mode of worship. [...] And each and every society or denomination of Christians in this state shall have and enjoy the same and equal powers, rights and privileges." - Constitution of Connecticut, 1818.

Et cetera.

As Zephaniah Swift, author of the first legal treatise published in America, stated:

"Christians of different denominations ought to consider that the law knows no distinction among them; that they are all established upon the broad basis of equal liberty, that they have a right to think, speak, and worship as they please, and that no sect has power to injure and oppress another. When they reflect that they are equally under the protection of the law, all will revere and love the constitution, and feel interested in the support of the government. No denomination can pride themselves in the enjoyment of superior and exclusive powers and immunities." - The Windham Herald as the "Correspondent," 1793.

As historian George Bancroft states regarding the establishment of Maryland.

"Christianity was by the charter made the law of the land, but no preference was given to any sect; and equality in religious rights, not less than in civil freedom, was assured. [....] The Roman Catholics, who were oppressed by the laws of England, were sure to find a peaceful asylum in the quiet harbors of the Chesapeake; and there, too, Protestants were sheltered against Protestant intolerance. Such were the beautiful auspices under which the province of Maryland started into being; its prosperity and its peace seemed assured; the interests of its people and its proprietary were united; and, for some years, its internal peace and harmony were undisturbed." - History of The United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, 1848.

As Joseph Story stated in the previous installment, the denominational prejudice and rivalry that had caused the colonists to flee Europe, was to a large degree brought with them and had not tended to diminish after their emigration. The existence of this sectarian contention, and the efforts of some denominations to establish their own as the official denomination of the federal government, would have according to Story been a source of "perpetual" strife and jealousy.

"The situation, too, of the different states equally proclaimed the policy, as well as the necessity of such an exclusion. In some of the states, Episcopalians constituted the predominant sect; in others, Presbyterians; in others, Congregationalists; in others, Quakers; and in others again, there was a close numerical rivalry among contending sects. It was impossible, that there should not arise perpetual strife and perpetual jealousy on the subject of ecclesiastical ascendancy, if the national government were left free to create a religious establishment. The only security was in extirpating the power." - Joseph Story, Commentaries on The Constitution of The United States, Amendments to The Constitution, 1833.

This sectarian contention is also acknowledged by Jefferson in his writings.

"Under the prevalence of that delusion on the clause of the constitution, which, while it secured the freedom of the press, covered also the freedom of religion, had given to the clergy a very favorite hope of obtaining an establishment of a particular form of Christianity thro' the U.S.; and as every sect believes its own form the true one, every one perhaps hoped for his own, but especially the Episcopalians & Congregationalists." - Thomas Jefferson, to Benjamin Rush, September 23, 1800.

Before continuing, however, it should understood that this Constitutional prohibition of a religious establishment is applicable only to the federal government. Why does the First Amendment exist? Why is there a Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution? Bayard expounds in his treatise on the Constitution.

"When the Constitution was submitted to the conventions, called for the purpose, in several States, it everywhere met with violent opposition, and a great variety of objections were urged against it. The most plausible, and most likely to have weight with the people, were those which were founded on the great power with which it invested the general government, and the fear that the influence of the States would be greatly impaired, if not altogether destroyed, by the supremacy of the Union. Many amendments were suggested, abridging the powers granted by the Constitution, or securing the rights of the States and the people, which were supposed to be in danger; and, in some of the States, it was proposed to make the adoption of amendments proposed by them, a condition of their acceding to the Union. But the impropriety of this course was evident, as it would materially impair the plan proposed by the Convention, and make it subject to the will of each State offering amendments; thus mutilating it, and preventing its merits from being fairly tested. Its friends, therefore, prevailed in procuring its ratification in its original form, by eleven of the States, with the understanding that some of the amendments, most earnestly insisted on, should be made after its adoption, in the mode provided in the Constitution itself. - James Bayard, A Brief Exposition of The Constitution of The United States, The Amendments, 1833.

These Amendments "made after its adoption," in "the mode (amendment) provided in the Constitution itself," are what we know as The Bill of Rights. The Tenth Amendment is essentially a reiteration of Article 2 of the antecedent Articles of Confederation. (The absence of which in the original version of the new Constitution became grounds for staunch opposition.) The similarities in the language of each are undeniable.

"Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled." - Articles of Confederation, Article 2.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." - Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Alexis De Tocqueville describes this state and municipal autonomy in the work he authored after visiting the Unites States during the early nineteenth century.

"It was impossible at the foundation of the States, and it would still be difficult, to establish a central administration in America. [...] America is [...] pre-eminently the country of provincial and municipal government. [...] At the time of the settlement of the North American colonies, municipal liberty had already penetrated into the laws as well as the manners of the English; and the emigrants adopted it, not only as a necessary thing, but as a benefit which they knew how to appreciate. [....] The English settlers in the United States, therefore, early perceived that they were divided into a great number of small and distinct communities which belonged to no common center; and that it was needful for each of these little communities to take care of its own affairs, since there did not appear to be any central authority which was naturally bound and easily enabled to provide for them. Thus, the nature of the country, the manner in which the British colonies were founded, the habits of the first emigrants, in short everything, united to promote, in an extraordinary degree, municipal and provincial liberties. In the United States, therefore, the mass of the institutions of the country is essentially republican." - Democracy in America, Of the Republican Institutions of The United States, and What Their Chances of Duration Are.

That the new Constitution, and the Tenth Amendment in particular is intended to preserve and protect local and state sovereignty by limiting federal sovereignty, is affirmed both before and after its adoption by Madison.

"It is to be remembered that the general government is not to be charged with the whole power of making and administering laws. Its jurisdiction is limited to certain enumerated objects, which concern all the members of the republic. [...] The subordinate governments, which can extend their care to all those other subjects which can be separately provided for, will retain their due authority and activity." - James Madison, Federalist #14.

And Jefferson.

"Resolved, That the several States composing, the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government; but that, by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted a general government for special purposes — delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government; and that whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force: [...] that the government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers. [....] Resolved, That it is true as a general principle, and is also expressly declared by one of the amendments to the Constitution, that 'the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, or prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people'; and that no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the press being delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, all lawful powers respecting the same did of right remain, and were reserved to the States or the people: that thus was manifested their determination to retain to themselves the right of judging how far the licentiousness of speech and of the press may be abridged without lessening their useful freedom, and how far those abuses which cannot be separated from their use should be tolerated, rather than the use be destroyed. And thus also they guarded against all abridgment by the United States of the freedom of religious opinions and exercises, and retained to themselves the right of protecting the same." - Thomas Jefferson, Resolutions Adopted by the Kentucky General Assembly, November 10, 1798.

It was tyranny of the national government, not state and local governments, that was feared and induced the incorporation of the Bill of Rights into the U.S. Constitution.

"I hope therefore a bill of rights will be formed to guard the people against the federal government, as they are already guarded against their state governments in most instances." - Thomas Jefferson, to James Madison, July 31, 1788.

Any regulatory power not conferred to the federal government in the Constitution is by default retained by the states in its entirety. States therefore were/are perfectly free to regulate religion and establish one denomination as the "official" religion of their state.

"Certainly no power to prescribe any religious exercise, or to assume authority in religious discipline, has been delegated to the General Government. It must then rest with the states." - Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Miller, January 23, 1808. 

"We deny that Congress have a right to control the freedom of the press, we have ever asserted the right of the States, and their exclusive right, to do so." - Thomas Jefferson to Abigail Adams, September 11, 1804.

"(The Constitution) Being an instrument of limited and enumerated powers, it follows irresistibly, that what is not conferred, is withheld, and belongs to the state authorities, if invested by their constitutions of government respectively in them; and if not so invested, it is retained by the people, as a part of their residuary sovereignty." [....] Thus, the whole power over the subject of religion is left exclusively to the state governments, to be acted upon according to their own sense of justice, and the state constitutions." - Joseph Story, Commentaries on The Constitution of The United States, Amendments to The Constitution, 1833.

The states were expected to remain religious and protect religious liberty however.  Territories seeking admission to the Union as new states, were required to share and promote the religious values of the extant states.

"For extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory. [....] No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory. [....] Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." - Ordinance of 1787.

Some states did not respect all Christian sects equally under the law, and exercised their right to prefer one denomination or form of Christianity over others, and even to establish one as the official religion of the state. This is illustrated by the Constitutions of South Carolina and Massachusetts for example.

"As the happiness of a people and the good order and preservation of civil government essentially depend upon piety, religion, and morality, and as these cannot be generally diffused through a community but by the institution of the public worship of God and of the public instructions in piety, religion, and morality: Therefore, To promote their happiness and to secure the good order and preservation of their government, the people of this commonwealth have a right to invest their legislature with power to authorize and require, and the legislature shall, from time to time, authorize and require, the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies-politic or religious societies to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for the institution of the public worship of God and for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality in all cases where such provision shall not be made voluntarily." - Constitution of Massachusetts, 1780.

"No person shall be eligible to a seat in the said senate unless he be of the Protestant religion. [....] No person shall be eligible to sit in the house of representatives unless he be of the Protestant religion. [....] The Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed, and is hereby constituted and declared to be, the established religion of this State. That all denominations of Christian Protestants in this State, demeaning themselves peaceably and faithfully, shall enjoy equal religious and civil privileges. [...] Whenever fifteen or more male persons, not under twenty-one years of age, professing the Christian Protestant religion, and agreeing to unite themselves In a society for the purposes of religious worship, they shall, (on complying with the terms hereinafter mentioned,) be, and be constituted a church, and be esteemed and regarded in law as of the established religion of the State, and on a petition to the legislature shall be entitled to be incorporated and to enjoy equal privileges." - Constitution of South Carolina, 1778.

Observe the language used by the Constitution of South Carolina, how it refers to Protestantism as a "religion," and the state selecting one form of Christianity over another, as an "establishment" of religion. This further illustrates that the First Amendment was devised purely to prevent, at the federal level of government, what South Carolina had done at the state level. It does not mean that government may not encourage or endorse Christianity in general. Particularly at the state and local level.

"This wise legislature framed this great body of laws for a Christian country and Christian people. [...] No infidels were among the first colonists. They fled religious intolerance to a country where all were allowed to worship according to their own understanding. Every one had the right of adopting for himself whatever opinion appeared to be the most rational concerning all matters of religious belief; thus securing by law this inestimable freedom of conscience." - Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1824.

Secularists will often argue the Constitution's lack of abundant or explicit religious language is indicative of indifference to, or even hostility toward, religion. But this is incorrect and has a perfectly sensible explanation based upon the circumstances at the time. Again, the Founders sought to preclude denominational contentions for supremacy at the federal level, to prevent the federal government from encroaching upon religious liberty, and this was to be accomplished by leaving the finer nuances of religious practice within the purview of the states and municipalities.

"You will permit to observe that the path of true piety is so plain as to require but little political direction. To this consideration we ought to ascribe the absence of any regulation, respecting religion, from the 
Magna-Charta (Constitution) of our country. To the guidance of the ministers of the Gospel this important object is, perhaps more properly, committed. It will be your care to instruct the ignorant and to reclaim the devious. And in the progress of morality and science, to which our government will give every furtherance, we may confidently expect the advancement of true religion and the completion of our happiness." - George Washington, to The First Presbytery Eastward in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, October 25, 1789. 

Early statesman James Bayard explains, in greater detail, this omission was by design and intended to prevent denominational conflict, abridgment of religious liberty, and potential opposition to the adoption of the document based upon sectarian grounds.

"It has been made an objection to the Constitution, by some, that it makes no mention of religion, contains no recognition of the existence and providence of God; as though his authority were slighted or disregarded. But such is not the reason of the omission. The convention, which framed the Constitution, comprised some of the wisest and best men in the nation; men who were firmly persuaded, not only of the divine origin of the Christian religion, but also, of its importance to the temporal and eternal welfare of men. The people, too, of this country, were generally impressed with religious feelings; and felt, and acknowledged, the superintendence of God, who had protected them through the perils of war, and blessed their exertions to obtain civil and religious freedom. But there were reasons why the introduction of religion into the Constitution, would have been unseasonable, if not improper.  

In the first place, it was intended exclusively for civil purposes, and religion could not be regularly mentioned, because it made no part of the agreement between the parties. They were about to surrender a portion of their civil rights, for the security of the remainder; but each retained his religious freedom, entire and untouched, as a matter between himself, and his God, with which government could not interfere. But even if this reason had not existed, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to use any expression on this subject, which would have given general satisfaction. The difference between the various sects of Christians is such, that while all have much in common, there are many points of variance; so that in an instrument, where all are entitled to equal consideration, it would be difficult to use terms in which all could cordially join. Besides, the whole Constitution was a compromise, and it was foreseen that it would meet with great opposition, before it would be finally adopted. It was therefore important to restrict its provisions to things absolutely necessary; so as to give as little room as possible to cavil. [....] 

Nothing in it could be construed to invest the government with a right to interfere in matters of religion. [...] Such was the solicitude of the people on this point; such their sense of the evils of a national religious establishment, and their determination to preserve the utmost freedom of conscience; that, it was deemed proper, thus to deprive Congress of all pretense for ever attempting to legislate upon this subject." - James Bayard, A brief exposition of the Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Subjects, The Amendments, 1833.

The modern interpretation of the First Amendment is the complete opposite of its genuine meaning. The "establishment" clause of the First Amendment was intended to protect the Church from being secularized by the state. Not to protect the state from religion. The state assuming control of the Church, of which King Henry VIII is a prime example, had historically resulted in rulers coopting the church and using it to advance their own secular interests. It allowed Kings and their proxies to portray their will as the will of God, and submission to the former as fealty to the latter.

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution is plainly equal in meaning to, and taken directly from, the Constitutions of the several states that established all Christian denominations on equal footing under the law. It was intended to prevent the creation of a national religious establishment that might exploit the power of the federal government to oppress rival denominations.

"It being the duty of all men to worship the Supreme Being, the Great Creator and Preserver of the Universe, and their right to render that worship in the mode most consistent with the dictates of their conscience, no person shall by law be compelled to join or support, or be classed with or associated to any congregation, church, or religious association. But every person now belonging to such congregation, church, or religious association, shall remain member thereof until he shall have separated himself therefrom in the manner hereinafter provided." - Constitution of Connecticut, 1818.