Don't divide church and state

EDITOR:

In support of Leslie Williamson's letter, "This is a Christian nation," today they don't teach about God in school so people don't know that church and state are being divided in a way that the founding fathers never intended.

One-hundred and six of the first 108 universities in the American colonies started as seminaries, including Harvard.

James Madison said "Religion is the basis of government."

In the 1780s local taxes in every town in New England paid for just two things: a school teacher and a preacher.

Thomas Jefferson went to church in the U.S. Capitol building and as governor of Virginia he himself called for a day of prayer and fasting across his state.

The first alphabet book used to teach reading in the colonies started with the Lord's Prayer. School continued to use this book after the Constitution was signed, no one felt it was inappropriate.

From 1620 to 1813 local governments all over America called for more than 1,400 days of fasting.

Jefferson himself is the one that designed the original curriculum for Washington D.C., Christian instruction was the cornerstone of his curriculum.

The truth is that under the 1st Amendment only the federal government has to maintain a separation of church and state. The local governments and schools are not bound by that restriction. That's why Jefferson called for days of fasting as governor but not as president. That's why he included religious instruction in the curriculum for the local schools.

But today in our schools you'll see profanity on shirts, and you'll hear music lyrics that talk of violence and fornication.

But if someone puts a Bible verse on the wall, an objection will be raised. In a local courthouse the Ten Commandments were taken down because "Someone might be influenced by them."

According to a national poll, 80 percent of Americans describe themselves as "born again" Christians. Our country got a great start but it's up to us to determine how it will finish.

Autum Resney

Gardnerville