[StBernard] Thanksgiving -- A Violation of Church and State?

[Westley Annis]

Thanksgiving -- A Violation of Church and State? 
by Chuck Norris (more by this author)
Posted 11/25/2008 ET
Updated 11/25/2008 ET


Is the government's observance of Thanksgiving a violation of the separation
of church and state?

This past week, a Newsweek/Washington Post editorial labeled presidential
Thanksgiving Day proclamations as "cracks in the wall of separation." The
author explained, "The problem with these proclamations, it seems to me, is
that they pave the way for public acceptance of gross violations of the
constitutional separation of church and state." What?!

Forget for a moment that nearly every president since George Washington (and
the Continental Congress before him) has given Judeo-Christian proclamations
for Thanksgiving (except between 1816 and 1861) and also has declared other
national days of fasting and prayer. Secularists, such as the author of the
editorial, get almost giddy every time they highlight that Thomas Jefferson
rejected the notion of proclaiming Thanksgiving spirituals and prayers. But
the truth is Jefferson was far from the modern-day secularist they make him
out to be.

Sure, Jefferson was adamant (as we all should be) that there should be no
federal subscription to any one form of religious sectarianism. That is
largely what the First Amendment is all about -- establishing the free
exercise of religion and restricting sectarian supremacy in government, as
well as government intrusion in churches.

But secularists make two grave mistakes when it comes to Jefferson and the
First Amendment. First, they misconstrue his understanding of separation.
Second, they overlook how Jefferson himself endorsed and intermingled
religion and politics, even during his two terms as president. Let me
explain, as I believe it is a timely reminder, given that we are
experiencing a new round of battles in our Christmas culture war, too.

The phrase "separation of church and state" actually comes from a letter
Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1802 to the Danbury Baptists. He told them that no
particular Christian denomination was going to have a monopoly in
government. His words, "a wall of separation between Church & State," were
not written to remove all religious practice from government or civic
settings, but to prohibit the domination and even legislation of religious
sectarianism.

Proof that Jefferson was not trying to rid government of religious
(specifically Christian) influence comes from the fact that he endorsed the
use of government buildings for church meetings and services, signed a
treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians that allotted federal money to support the
building of a Catholic church and to pay the salaries of the church's
priests, and repeatedly renewed legislation that gave land to the United
Brethren to help their missionary activities among the American Indians.

Some might be completely surprised to discover that just two days after
Jefferson wrote his famous letter citing the "wall of separation between
Church & State," he attended church in the place where he always had as
president: the U.S. Capitol. The very seat of our nation's government was
used for sacred purposes. As the Library of Congress' Web site notes, "It is
no exaggeration to say that on Sundays in Washington during the
administrations of Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) and of James Madison
(1809-1817) the state became the church." Does that sound like someone who
was trying to create an impenetrable wall of separation between church and
state?

Let's face the present Thanksgiving facts. President Bush likely will give
the last explicit Judeo-Christian Thanksgiving proclamation that Americans
will hear for the next four to eight years, as President-elect Obama likely
will coddle a form of godliness in his Thanksgiving addresses (if he indeed
gives them) that appeases the masses with a deity that fits every
politically correct dress.

But I'm an optimist. And because so much attention is being given right now
by the media and the president-elect himself regarding his parallels to and
lessons learned from President Abraham Lincoln, I recommend Obama heed
Lincoln's Thanksgiving wisdom. Don't mince or water down the God of the
Pilgrims, as is being done in public schools across this land through the
retelling of the first Thanksgiving.

Obama doesn't even need a speechwriter for Thanksgiving 2009. He simply can
recite Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, in which Lincoln thanked the
Almighty for America's bountiful blessings and providential care despite
enduring a war and grave economic hardships. The content seems divinely
timed for even such a wintry season as our own:

"No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these
great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who while
dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. .
I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens . to set apart and observe the
last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our
beneficent Father, who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them
that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular
deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our
national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those
who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable
civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged and fervently implore the
interposition of the almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to
restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purposes, to the
full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union."

Whatever your religious persuasion, don't hesitate this Thanksgiving to bow
your head, give thanks to God, and follow Lincoln's advice. And when you do,
don't forget to say a prayer for our troops and their families. While they
serve us so we can serve our Thanksgiving feasts safely, the least we can do
is serve them a little honor and remembrance.