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What Separation of Church and State Really Meant · 5-Minutes of Good News

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, Christians.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is Dallas Beacham.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Stand by for good news.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: There is a phrase many Americans know by heart.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Separation of church and state.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Many believe those exact words are in the Constitution.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: They are not.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: The First Amendment says Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, the federal government was forbidden from establishing a national church, and it was also forbidden from stopping the free exercise of religion.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Both parts matter.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Government must not establish religion, but it must not prohibit its free exercise either.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: The famous wall of separation phrase came from Thomas Jefferson's eighteen oh two letter to the Danbury Baptist Church.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Those Baptists were concerned about religious liberty.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Jefferson answered that religion was a matter between man and God and that government's legitimate powers reached actions, not opinions.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: The point was not that faith must be driven out of public life.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: The concern was that civil government must not control the church, dictate doctrine, punish conscience, or become master over worship.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: That dictation matters.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: That distinction matters.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: The original American concern was not simply freedom from religion, but freedom of religion.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: It was not meant to make Christians silent.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Acts five and twenty nine records Peter saying, We ought to obey God rather than men.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: That kind of conscience before God is exactly why religious liberty matters.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: The First Amendment has two sides, no establishment by Congress and no prohibition of free exercise.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: If we teach only one side, we do not teach the whole truth.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: If children hear only that faith must be hidden, they may never learn that religious liberty was meant to protect open obedience to God.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Over the years the phrase has been argued, interpreted, expanded, and politicized.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: In many classrooms, children may hear the phrase without hearing the actual words of the First Amendment.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: They may be told religion must be private, but not be told that free exercise is a constitutional protection.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: They may hear about a wall, but never hear why many believers wanted protection from government interference in the first place.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: The wall was not built to lock God out of our heart.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: It was meant to keep the state from ruling the church.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is why careful teaching matters.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: If the only thing our children hear is the phrase separation of church and state, but they never hear the words free exercise, they may believe faith is something to be hidden instead of lived.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: But early believers wanted liberty because they knew Christ, not Caesar, was the Lord of their conscience.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: They wanted the government restrained so the church could worship freely, preach boldly, and train its children without fear of civil control.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Here is the good news.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: No government can build a wall high enough to keep God from the heart that seeks him.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: The church does not need permission to be faithful.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Families do not need permission to pray.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Believers do not need permission to teach their children the truth.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs twenty two and six still says train up a child in the way that it should go.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And Joshua twenty four fifteen still says As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Laws are important, history is important, and liberty is precious, but the greatest freedom is found in Christ, and the greatest duty is to follow Him faithfully.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: I hope today's message has touched your heart and causes you to have a good day.