On Being

Religious Liberty in America: The Legacy of Church and State
January 15, 2004

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At the center of our history of church and state is a troublesome irony. What began as an attempt to guarantee religious tolerance in the new world has at various times been commandeered by the most chauvinistic movements America has known. In spite of this, religious liberty has survived as an American ideal—one which we continue to test.

We live in a world of increasing religious pluralism—diversity beyond the imagining of our nation's founders—which suggests fresh nuance to the meaning of religious liberty. This much is clear: our modern conversation has few connections to the social, political, and religious impulses that led to the First Amendment.

Host Krista Tippett and her guests revisit the history and meaning of separation in thought-provoking and, at times, unsettling ways. Charles Haynes talks about his work in the American public school system—the arena in which our modern debates often center. Philip Hamburger describes his research into the surprising, and largely forgotten, origins of separation of church and state. And, Cheryl Crazy Bull speaks about the loss and reemergence of religious expression in tribal public life.

Voices

				Photo: Jon Brunk 2003
Charles C. Haynes is an author, educator, and director of the First Amendment Center's educational program in schools.		Philip Hamburger is an author and John P. Wilson professor of law at the University of Chicago.		Cheryl Crazy Bull is president of Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, Washington.

Readings in the Program
03:15	Pledge of Allegiance View the evolving versions of the recitation since its creation in 1892.
08:58	Questions from Taking Religion Seriously Across the Curriculum Read the questions from Charles Haynes' book that Krista quoted, in which a student, or any thoughtful person for that matter, might ask himself or herself about what makes life meaningful.
19:34	Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists Read the final letter sent in 1802 that contains the phrase "a wall of separation between church and state." Also, compare the draft version of the letter or view the actual image of the final letter.
21:52	Excerpt from a Sermon at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine In the mid-19th century, the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant majority took up the banner of church-state separation as a means to keep Catholics out of public life. They claimed that Catholics held an overriding allegiance to the Roman Church and its government by the pope. The lines of this sermon illustrate this prejudice.
25:57	Excerpt from a Ku Klux Klan Oath of Allegiance Philip Hamburger references the KKK, in the early 20th century, as one of the most prominent anti-Catholic, pro-separation forces in America. An excerpt of this oath from that era is both racist and distinctly in favor of separation.

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