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The Puritans and the Division of Church and State 1280 Views


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If the Puritans had gotten their way, religion would play a much larger role in lawmaking these days. Want to know more? Watch the video for all the DOCAS deets. (And yes, we're turning it into an acronym.)

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Transcript

00:04

The Puritans and the Division Between Church and State, a la Shmoop.

00:09

Mashed potatoes and gravy.

00:11

Strawberries and whipped cream.

00:13

Coke and Mentos.

00:15

These things just naturally go together.

00:17

But do you know what doesn't go together?

00:20

According to our Founding Fathers… the church and the state.

00:25

In the United States government, these two entities are kept apart, destined never to

00:29

be together...

00:30

…kind of like Romeo and Juliet, but without the making out. Or the suicide.

00:36

One group that strongly disagreed with the separation of church and state was the Puritans.

00:41

These radical English Protestants who helped to settle New England believed that laws should

00:45

be shaped by religion. The separation of church and state is enshrined

00:50

in the First Amendment of the Constitution.

00:53

Not the Second, or the Fifth, or the Tenth. The First.

00:56

Thomas Jefferson and his bros must have thought keeping religion out of government was pretty

01:01

darn important. However… the Puritans were Christians, and

01:05

so were the Founding Fathers.

01:06

Sure, the Puritans might have burned teenage girls at the stake and given their children

01:10

names like Cotton…

01:11

…but they and the Founding Fathers shared a Christian understanding of the world.

01:16

As this Christian worldview certainly played a part in the formation of the new American

01:20

government…

01:21

…why shouldn't religion play a bigger, broader role in the creation of the law?

01:27

Maybe the real answer lies somewhere between the two opposing viewpoints…

01:31

People who are religious are likely tempted to draw on their faith when making laws.

01:36

However, legislators should not allow their religious beliefs to get in the way of fair

01:40

and unbiased law-making.

01:43

Many religions value things like peace and justice as tenets of faith.

01:48

These values, broadly speaking, have a role in government.

01:51

Narrow laws tied to a particular religion, however, do not.

01:57

The Puritans have been dead and gone for three hundred years…

02:00

…because who wants to be a part of a religious group that lights people on fire when it gets

02:04

antsy?

02:05

Even so, the debate about the separation of church and state still pops up sometimes.

02:10

Mostly on Fox News.

02:16

What do you think?

02:16

Does the separation between church and state need to make like a tree and leave…

02:21

…or is this one division that should stay… divided?

02:26

Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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