Did the Founders Intend to Separate Church and State?

President Larry P. Arnn explains the separation of church and state.

Transcript:

STUDENT: Hello, I’m Paul, a student at Hillsdale College. Here is my professor Doctor Larry Arnn on the separation of church and state.

DR. ARNN: America’s founders believed in the separation of church and state, in that the country was not to have an official religion or an official sect, but that did not mean that government was to be hostile to religion, or even indifferent to religion, as many today argue. In fact, America’s founding document the Declaration of Independence includes both a reference to God as the author of the laws of nature and a confident assertion that human beings are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. Far from being hostile or indifferent to religion, America’s founders understood the theology of the declaration to be an essential part of the education of citizens.

STUDENT: This Constitution Minute was brought to you by Hillsdale College. Join the national conversation on the Constitution [comment below].