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CONSTITUTION: Clarifying separation

| November 26, 2021 1:00 AM

In the Nov. 19 issue of this publication, an individual wrote in the opinion section, “…our federal government will never address the Constitution’s stand on the separation of church and state.”

To be clear, the Constitution has no stand of the separation of the church and state, so there is nothing to address. The phrase “separation of church and state” was coined by Thomas Jefferson more than a decade after the First Amendment was adopted. It is nothing more than a phrase taken from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association on Jan. 1, 1802.

It is not a statute, a law nor an amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The letter was in response to a letter where concerns had been raised about religious liberty being infringed upon by the American government.

KAREN MILACEK

Post Falls