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The Puritans and the Division of Church and State 1280 Views
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Description:
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.)
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.
Full Transcript
- 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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