Politics
Ariana Baio
Jun 28, 2022
Video
Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) told churchgoers on Sunday she believes "the church is supposed to direct the government" and thinks the separation of church and state is "junk" from "a stinkin' letter".
While speaking at a Cornerstone Christian Center on Tuesday, Boebert expressed her opinions that fell in line with recent Supreme Court rulings that blur the lines between church and state.
"The reason we had so many over-reaching regulations in our nation is because the church complied," Boebert said. "The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church. That is not how our founding fathers intended it."
Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
"And I'm tired of this separation of this church and state junk that's not in the Constitution. It was in a stinkin' letter and it means nothing like what they say it does," Boebert added per The Denver Post.
According to the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" although the separation of church and state is not directly mentioned, it has long been interpreted that this Establishment Clause means the separation of church and state.
\u201c\u201cI\u2019m tired of this separation of church and state junk.\u201d\n\nLauren Boebert went full theocracy, and proclaimed, \u201cThe church is supposed to direct the government\u201d per the founding fathers.\u201d— PatriotTakes \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@PatriotTakes \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1656359230
The "stinkin' letter" Boebert mentions is seemingly the 1802 letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association. In the letter, Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and a founding father, explained the First Amendment.
"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.” Jefferson wrote.
According to the Freedom Forum Institute, an organization that advocates for First Amendment rights, the Establishment Clause was intended to prohibit the federal government from any involvement in religion as Americans feared Christian Church dominance.
The Supreme Court has cited Jefferson's letter in cases like Everson v. Board of Education (1947).
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that states that allow private schools to benefit from state tuition programs must include religious schools. Yesterday, the Court ruled that a person is protected to express their religious beliefs by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment without government reprisal.
\u201cOne of the amazing things about the Coach Kennedy case, which has rendered the establishment clause\u2019s separation of church and state basically moot, is that to accomplish this the majority embraced a version of the facts that\u2019s demonstrably false.\u201d— Moira Donegan (@Moira Donegan) 1656341410
Many have argued the Supreme Court's recent decisions have blurred the line between separation of church and state in the US which some find concerning.
Boebert's comments come shortly before Colorado's primaries taking place on Tuesday.
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
Top 100
The Conversation (0)
x