{"id":12868,"date":"2026-05-26T23:38:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T18:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/what-jefferson-and-madison-would-have-thought-about-rededicating-the-us-to-god\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T23:38:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T18:08:56","slug":"what-jefferson-and-madison-would-have-thought-about-rededicating-the-us-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/what-jefferson-and-madison-would-have-thought-about-rededicating-the-us-to-god\/","title":{"rendered":"What Jefferson and Madison would have thought about \u2018rededicating\u2019 the US to God"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_6PGkeHLeGnP?ui_title_intro=Listen+now%3A&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=3.1.5\" width=\"100%\" height=\"136px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>(The Conversation) \u2014 Thousands of Americans prayed on the National Mall on May 17, 2026, during \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/freedom250.org\/celebration\/rededicate-250-a-national-jubilee-of-prayer-praise-and-thanksgiving\">Rededicate 250<\/a>\u201d: a day-long rally to \u201ccome together in prayer and worship ahead of the nation\u2019s 250th birthday,\u201d as organizers described it. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, one of many Republican politicians and conservative Christian leaders to speak, <a href=\"https:\/\/mikejohnson.house.gov\/news\/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2885\">led a prayer<\/a> to \u201crededicate the United States of America as one nation under God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Planned by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-rededicate-america-250-prayer-gathering-e65950eac5f7aed8be529333cbd301b3\">the rally prompted criticism<\/a> that it blurred <a href=\"https:\/\/ffrf.org\/news\/releases\/freedom-250-may-17-prayer-rally-is-christian-nationalist-pseudohistory\/\">the lines separating church and state<\/a>. According to the Pew Research Center, 73% of adults agree that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2022\/07\/05\/10-facts-about-religion-and-government-in-the-united-states\/\">religion should be kept separate from government policies<\/a>, and only 19% of Americans say the United States should <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/religion\/2021\/10\/28\/in-u-s-far-more-support-than-oppose-separation-of-church-and-state\/\">stop enforcing that principle<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But figures <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-religious-liberty-commission-conservative-christians-f61eba23ca5cda88a6df1ac525ef12c5\">allied with the Trump administration<\/a> have challenged the premise that the U.S. government should be \u2013 or was meant to be \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2022\/09\/21\/most-republicans-support-declaring-the-united-states-a-christian-nation-00057736\">separate from religion<\/a>. In 2023, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ccfGzt1cdek\">Johnson remarked<\/a> that \u201cThe separation of church and state is a misnomer \u2026 it comes from a phrase that was in a letter that Jefferson wrote. It\u2019s not in the Constitution. And what he was explaining is they did not want the government to encroach upon the church \u2013 not that they didn\u2019t want principles of faith to have influence on our public life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/willamette.edu\/law\/faculty\/profiles\/green\/index.html\">a scholar of American legal and religious history<\/a>, I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cornellpress.cornell.edu\/book\/9781501762062\/separating-church-and-state\/\">have written extensively<\/a> about the development of religious freedom in the U.S., and the origins of the separation of church and state.<\/p>\n<p>Two of the Founding Fathers shaped American views on these topics more than any other: Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Yet their views have also become lightning rods for controversy as the \u201cwall\u201d between church and state comes under scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.upress.virginia.edu\/title\/10018\/\">My 2024 book<\/a>, \u201cThe Grand Collaboration,\u201d seeks to answer several questions: What was Jefferson\u2019s and Madison\u2019s understanding of religious freedom? And why were they so deeply committed to that principle?<\/p>\n<h2>Bedrock of law \u2013 in Virgina and beyond<\/h2>\n<p>Jefferson wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/press-pubs.uchicago.edu\/founders\/documents\/amendI_religions37.html\">the Virginia Bill for Religious Freedom<\/a> in 1777, the most comprehensive declaration of religious freedom at the time. The bill guaranteed freedom of conscience, protected religious assemblies from government oversight, prohibited government funding of religious institutions and boldly declared that religious opinions were outside the authority of civil officials.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/602136\/original\/file-20240620-17-aqd9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"An obelisk-shaped grave sits in a grassy area with trees.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Thomas Jefferson asked that his gravesite commemorate three of his accomplishments, including writing Virginia\u2019s statute for religious freedom.<\/span><br \/><span class=\"attribution\"><a class=\"source\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Thomas_Jefferson%27s_Grave_Site.jpg\">Christopher Hollis\/Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Several years later, Madison guided these ideals into law. His \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/press-pubs.uchicago.edu\/founders\/documents\/amendI_religions43.html\">Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments<\/a>,\u201d a protest against a proposal to support Christian teachers with tax money, affirmed the values of church-state separation and religious equality. He helped defeat the proposal \u2013 and set the stage for Virginia to adopt Jefferson\u2019s bill.<\/p>\n<p>As president, Jefferson went on to pen <a href=\"https:\/\/press-pubs.uchicago.edu\/founders\/documents\/amendI_religions58.html\">a letter to a Baptist association in Connecticut<\/a> where he immortalized the phrase \u201ca wall of separation between church and state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Bill of Rights contains two clauses about religion, both in <a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/constitution\/amendment-1\/\">the First Amendment<\/a>: that \u201cCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What qualifies as \u201cestablishment of religion,\u201d however, is open to debate.<\/p>\n<p>In 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/1940-1955\/330us1\">embraced church-state separation<\/a> as the guiding principle for interpreting the religion clauses, <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/us\/330\/1\/\">relying extensively<\/a> on the two Virginians\u2019 writings and actions. As Justice Hugo Black wrote, \u201cIn the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect \u2018a wall of separation between Church and State.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The duo\u2019s documents served as the authority for the legal principle of church-state separation, and for more than five decades, their bona fides remained unquestioned in the law.<\/p>\n<h2>Shift at SCOTUS<\/h2>\n<p>Criticism of church-state separation intensified in the 1980s. As the religious right grew into a political force, <a href=\"https:\/\/search.worldcat.org\/title\/18191798\">commentators argued<\/a> that the concept was anti-religious and did not represent the prevailing views about church and state during the founders\u2019 time.<\/p>\n<p>In recent decades, such arguments have attracted politicians and jurists, including members of the Supreme Court. Justice Clarence Thomas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/19pdf\/591us2r52_i426.pdf\">has written<\/a> that the court\u2019s earlier separationist interpretations of the Constitution \u201csometimes bordered on religious hostility.\u201d Legal scholar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.columbia.edu\/faculty\/philip-hamburger\">Philip Hamburger<\/a> has declared that \u201cthe constitutional authority for separation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/books\/9780674013742\">is without historical foundation<\/a>\u201d and \u201cshould at best be viewed with suspicion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several recent Supreme Court decisions have rejected a separationist approach to church-state matters. For example, the conservative majority has allowed <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/state-funds-for-students-at-religious-schools-supreme-court-says-yes-in-maine-case-but-consequences-could-go-beyond-184618\">taxpayer dollars to be used at religious schools<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/2018\/17-1717\">display of religious symbols<\/a> on government property, and <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/why-the-supreme-courts-football-decision-is-a-game-changer-on-school-prayer-184619\">religious expression by public school employees<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/21pdf\/596us2r49_7l48.pdf\">In a 2022 dissent<\/a>, Justice Sonia Sotomayor bemoaned that the court has turned the separation of church and state from a \u201cconstitutional commitment\u201d to a \u201cconstitutional violation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The justices\u2019 earlier reliance on Jefferson and Madison has borne the brunt of criticism that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/books\/9780674013742\">their views on church-state matters<\/a> did not represent their peers, or that neither man was in favor of separation as he has been portrayed.<\/p>\n<h2>Exchange of ideas<\/h2>\n<p>To better understand Jefferson\u2019s and Madison\u2019s beliefs, I examined many of the 2,300 letters between the two on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/\">Founders Online<\/a>,\u201d a National Archives website. I also looked at correspondence with other acquaintances.<\/p>\n<p>Both founders <a href=\"https:\/\/research.colonialwilliamsburg.org\/Foundation\/journal\/Spring09\/deism.cfm\">had deistic leanings<\/a>, meaning they believed in a supreme being, but thought science and reason were the best paths to understanding religion. They were only nominally observant Christians, but more protected from <a href=\"https:\/\/global.oup.com\/academic\/product\/wellspring-of-liberty-9780195388060?cc=us&amp;lang=en&amp;\">religious intolerance<\/a> than other \u201cdissenters\u201d due to their high social standing and affiliation with the Anglican Church.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/602139\/original\/file-20240620-21-lrpka6.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"A formal portrait of a man staring at the viewer, with white hair, a white shirt with a high neck, and a black jacket.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Thomas Jefferson\u2019s official presidential portrait, painted around 1800 by Rembrandt Peale.<\/span><br \/><span class=\"attribution\"><a class=\"source\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Official_Presidential_portrait_of_Thomas_Jefferson_(by_Rembrandt_Peale,_1800).jpg\">White House History via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>All the more striking, then, that they worked throughout their lives to advance religious freedom.<\/p>\n<p>Religious matters were never far from their minds. For instance, in Madison and Jefferson\u2019s exchanges discussing the need for a bill of rights, freedom of conscience was invariably at the top of the list. Both were convinced that government should avoid supporting religion, even if no particular religion was given preference. They also insisted that people should have broad religious freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>These views were clearly on the vanguard, but other religious rationalists and religious dissenters also advocated <a href=\"https:\/\/wwnorton.com\/books\/9780393328370\">a comprehensive understanding of religious freedom<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Both men were committed to advancing religious freedom because they saw it as deeply entwined with freedom of inquiry and conscience. \u201cReason and free enquiry are the only effectual agents against error,\u201d Jefferson <a href=\"https:\/\/press-pubs.uchicago.edu\/founders\/documents\/amendI_religions40.html\">wrote in 1784<\/a>. Allowing people to investigate ideas freely \u201cwill support the true religion,\u201d because \u201cTruth can stand by itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/1923519\">Madison declared<\/a> \u201cthe freedom of conscience to be a natural and absolute right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In their view, free inquiry was the fount of other rights. Religious freedom, for example, was a subset of freedom of conscience. And a healthy separation of church and state was key to ensuring those freedoms.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018A pillar of support\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The letters reveal the extent to which Jefferson and Madison complemented and reinforced each other\u2019s attitudes toward church and state. They also reveal the close intellectual and emotional affection that each man held for the other, and how much each man valued the other\u2019s support.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/602138\/original\/file-20240620-17-zi71as.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"A portrait of a man with white hair, a white shirt with a high neck, and a black jacket.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">A portrait of James Madison by Chester Harding, painted around 1829, a few years before his death.<\/span><br \/><span class=\"attribution\"><a class=\"source\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:James_Madison_by_Chester_Harding,_1829-1830_-_DSC03222.JPG\">Daderot\/National Portrait Gallery via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/?q=%20Author%3A%22Jefferson%2C%20Thomas%22%20Recipient%3A%22Madison%2C%20James%22%20Dates-From%3A1826-01-01&amp;s=1111311111&amp;r=5\">their final exchanges<\/a> before Jefferson\u2019s death on July 4, 1826, he implored Madison, \u201cTo myself, you have been a pillar of support thro\u2019 life. Take care of me when dead, and be assured that I shall leave with you my last affections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Madison <a href=\"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/?q=Dates-From%3A1826-01-01%20Author%3A%22Madison%2C%20James%22%20Recipient%3A%22Jefferson%2C%20Thomas%22&amp;s=1111311111&amp;r=5\">responded with similar affection<\/a>: \u201cYou cannot look back to the long period of our private friendship &amp; political harmony, with more affecting recollections than I do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jefferson\u2019s and Madison\u2019s half-century of collaboration on behalf of religious freedom and equality is an important chapter in the nation\u2019s founding history. I believe its legacy should be remembered and celebrated, not discarded.<\/p>\n<p><em>This is an updated version of <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-jefferson-and-madisons-partnership-a-friendship-told-in-letters-shaped-americas-separation-of-church-and-state-228324\">an article<\/a> originally published on June 25, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>(Steven K. Green, Professor of Law, Director of the Center for Religion, Law &amp; Democracy, Willamette University. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/283311\/count.gif\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/05\/26\/what-jefferson-and-madison-would-have-thought-about-rededicating-the-us-to-god\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(The Conversation) \u2014 Thousands of Americans prayed on the National Mall on May 17, 2026, during \u201cRededicate 250\u201d: a day-long rally to \u201ccome together in prayer and worship ahead of the nation\u2019s 250th birthday,\u201d as organizers described it. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, one of many Republican politicians and conservative Christian leaders to speak, led [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}