Originally created 06/28/01

U.S. was born a Christian nation

A recent letter suggests that separation of church and state is a basic concept that has made this country great and that the Founding Fathers insisted on it.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Until the 19th century, America could still be considered a Christian nation, blessed by God.

Separation of church and state was the creation of activist federal judges who used the 14th Amendment to gut the 10th Amendment and dramatically increase their sphere of power. This took place from the 1920s to now.

The Founders were long dead when the 14th Amendment became the law of the land in 1868. The intent of the amendment had nothing to do with separating church and state. It was to ensure that recently freed slaves would not be enslaved anew by laws passed by state legislatures.

Not until the 20th century did the courts use the judicial review of state laws to create a concept of separation of church and state.

I encourage your readers to read the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the writings of our Founders to learn what concepts our nation was founded on.

Chuck Tatum, North Augusta, S.C.