< Changing Worldviews.Commentary >

Words are powerful - Thoughts shape - Ideas have consequences

William Federer

Amerisearch, Inc. & the American Minute
Posted May 17, 2004

Who Introduced the First Amendment?
For two Spheres of Influence

Who introduced the First Amendment anyway? With all this debate over what it means, it only makes sense that we should at least look at the person who introduced it and get some idea of what he intended?

In Federalist Paper #39 , James Madison explained that our government was designed to govern people who could govern them selves:

"That honourable determination which animates every votary of freedom, to rest all our political experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government."

On June 7, 1789, James Madison introduced the First Amendment in the first session of Congress with the wording:

"The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship."

To understand his intent, we should examine other bills regarding religion that he had a part in.

On Oct. 31, 1785, in the Virginia Assembly, James Madison introduced a bill Appointing Days of Public Fasting & Thanksgiving, and a bill for Punishing Disturbers of Religious Worship & Sabbath Breakers, passed in 1789.

In debating against a bill for state supported teachers of religion in the Virginia Assembly, 1785, James Madison delivered his Memorial and Remonstrance, warning of the temptation that would come to those in charge of hiring religious teachers to hire individuals of their own denomination, thus setting up a state denomination de facto.

He thought the only abuse to guard against was that which took place in Europe, where whatever the King believed, the kingdom had to believe. He never imagined there existed a ditch on the other side of the road which needed to be guarded against, namely, the attempt to prohibit all public recognition of God.

Madison's intent was not to lessen the spread of religion, but to increase it:

"The policy of the bill is adverse to the diffusion of the light of Christianity. The first wish of those who ought to enjoy this precious gift, ought to be, that it may be imparted to the whole race of mankind. Compare the number of those who have as yet received it, with the number still remaining under the dominions of false religions, and how small is the former! Does the policy of the bill tend to lessen the disproportion? No; it at once discourages those who are strangers to the Light of Truth, from coming into the regions of it."

Though Madison acknowledged the importance of spreading the "the light of
Christianity" as a "precious gift" to those "remaining under the dominions of false religions," he reasoned that Government's role was not to evangelize, but simply to provide an unbiased environment for Churches to evangelize.

Madison identified two spheres of influence "civil and religious." Civil influence belonged to the Government, which was responsible to provide an equal, level playing field for religious activity; and Religious influence belonged to the Churches, which had the responsibility to perform the religious activity.

This categorizing of responsibilities was quite a contrast to the situation in Europe during the Middle Ages, where Governments thought it was their responsibility to "evangelize" through forced compliance.

President James Madison enlarged on his views in a Proclamation of a National Day of Public Humiliation and Prayer during the War of 1812, July 23, 1813:

"If the public homage of a people can ever be worthy of the favorable regard of the Holy and Omniscient Being to whom it is addressed, it must be...guided only by their free choice, by the impulse of their hearts and the dictates of their consciences; and such a spectacle must be interesting to all Christian nations as proving that religion, that gift of Heaven for the good of man [is] freed from all coercive edicts."

Far from removing God from public recognition, Madison's aim was to make the public's worship more pleasing to God by having it be voluntary and freewill, as expressed in his Proclamation of a National Day of Public Humiliation, Fasting & Prayer, November 16, 1814:

"I have deemed it proper...a day on which all may have an opportunity of voluntarily offering at the same time in their respective religious assemblies, their humble adoration to the Great Sovereign of the Universe, of confessing their sins and transgressions, and of strengthening their vows of repentance."

At the end of the War of 1812, President Madison stated in a Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving & of Devout Acknowledgments to Almighty God, March 4, 1815:

"No people ought to feel greater obligations to celebrate the goodness of the Great Disposer of Events and of the Destiny of Nations than the people of the United States....Every religious denomination may in their solemn assemblies unite their hearts and their voices in a freewill offering, to their Heavenly Benefactor, of their homage of thanksgiving and their songs of praise."

Madison also demonstrated that there existed a common set of religious beliefs in America drawn from the Holy Scriptures by using the phrase "our holy religion" in a Proclamation dated July 9, 1812:

"with a reverence for the unerring precept of our holy religion, to do to others as they would require that others should do to them."

In an act that revealed his attitude perhaps better than any other, President Madison appointed Joseph Story to the U.S. Supreme Court. In his Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States, 1840, Justice Joseph Story wrote:

"At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, and of the Amendment to it now under consideration, the general, if not the universal, sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the State so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience and the freedom of religious worship."

Justice Joseph Story, appointed by the man who introduced the First Amendment, commented on it:

"The real object of the First Amendment was not to countenance, much less advance Mohammedanism, or Judaism, or infidelity, by prostrating Christianity, but to exclude all rivalry among Christian sects."

Who was this person who introduced the First Amendment and what did he intend? Well, after reviewing some of the actions James Madison performed while in public office, we can see that he was a man who considered religion, "that gift of Heaven for the good of man," a vital part of American life and welcomed the acknowledgment of God in official government capacities.

He supported bills which appointed days of "public fasting & thanksgiving" and "punished disturbers of religious worship and Sabbath breakers." He opposed bills which discouraged "those who are strangers to the Light of Truth from coming into the regions of it."

James Madison's intent was not to remove religion from the public arena, but rather to cause the public's worship to be more meaningful to God by being "guided only by their free choice, by the impulse of their hearts and the dictates of their consciences," a voluntary "freewill offering to their Heavenly Benefactor."

© William Federer 2004 Reprinted with Permission

William J. Federer is a nationally known speaker, best-selling author, and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching America’s noble heritage. His book America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations has sold over a quarter-of-a-million copies, and his AMERICAN MINUTE radio feature is aired across the country recalling events of American significance on the date they occurred. Bill ran for Congress in 1998 & 2000 against Dick Gephardt, and is running again in 2004 for that seat. Articles on and by Bill have appeared in national publications, such as WorldNetDaily.com, Washington Times, Washington Post, and Human Events. www.amerisearch.com