Contrary to much of what is argued nowadays, the United States was not founded as a Christian nation.
Right from the start, religious diversity was part of life in the new nation. Religious groups were guaranteed that they would be free from government involvement. Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island and the Baptist tradition, sought to protect “the garden of the church from the wilderness of the world” by means of a “wall of separation.”
Article 11 of the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli states that “the United States government was ‘not in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.'” George Washington was president when it was drafted, and John Adams was president when it was ratified.
Thomas Jefferson, like other founders, was a deist. He cared little about matters of faith, but he protected “the wall” between church and state.
In 1975, James Blaine brought the issue to specifically focus on schools and led an effort to amend the Constitution to forbid any law that would allow government funds to be used for the support of non-public schools. His amendment failed in the U.S. Senate, but many states adopted the Blaine Amendments and prohibited the use of taxpayer funds to support sectarian schools. Ohio did not accept the Blaine Amendment, because the Ohio Constitution contains an older provision that mirrors Blaine’s “no-aid” restriction.
Churches are tax-exempt and therefore are already subsidized by the state. But in exchange, they may not make political endorsements from the pulpit. It’s one or the other.
The same should be said of vouchers for schools. Accept government funding but stop the teaching of religion. It should be one or the other.
We need to maintain the wall between church and state. In Ohio right now, that wall is crumbling. Ohio needs to stop the funding of the teaching of religion.
Lee Hakel
Bowling Green
