Townhall:
From the very beginning of our country, faith played a key role in shaping our culture and our country. Unlike many countries, the founders did not want to establish any state religion. Such a commitment would have created an obstacle to the union they were working to create. But the founders never imagined that America would evolve to a point where churches would be closed while pot stores, liquor stores, and abortion clinics would be seen as more essential to be open during our coronavirus lockdown than churches.
Since our country’s founding through the World War era, the importance of faith was seldom questioned. Not everyone went to church, but most realized the critical role people of faith and their love of religious freedom had played in the nation’s founding and our culture.
As many have stated, nowhere in the Constitution does it mention the separation of church and state. President Thomas Jefferson introduced that phrase in a private letter to Danbury Baptist Church, but in no way did he wish to constrict religious expression.