In responding to Danielle Augustson's March 15 letter about our founding fathers, I'd point out that Thomas Jefferson did not write or sign the U.S Constitution. His letter about "the great wall of separation," when read in its entirety, reveals only that Washington cannot tell us what religion we must be, or when, where and how we worship.
The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no laws respecting the establishment of a religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
President Jefferson regularly attended Christian church services held in the U.S. House of Represenatives. He was also president of schools in our nation's capital and required the Christian Bible to be taught.
Jefferson said, "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God ... not to be violated but with His wrath?"
Patrick Henry said, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
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George Washington said, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
James Madison said, "A nation that will not be ruled by the Ten Commandments shall be ruled by tyrants."
Tommy G. Thorson
Ostrander
