re: Rep. Lauren Boebert Calls Separation of Church and State 'Junk,' Says Church Should Direct

quote:

---

She's kinda right.

There was to be no Church of America.

But individual states supported churches into the 1830s.

---

Let's put this all to rest Right F#&%ing Now.

Thomas Jefferson never, ever supported a ban on religion in the public sphere. In fact, during his presidency, he attended taxpayer-funded church services in the capitol building itself.

quote:

---

It is no exaggeration to say that on Sundays in Washington during the administrations of Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) and of James Madison (1809-1817) the state became the church. Within a year of his inauguration, Jefferson began attending church services in the House of Representatives. Madison followed Jefferson's example, although unlike Jefferson, who rode on horseback to church in the Capitol, Madison came in a coach and four. Worship services in the House--a practice that continued until after the Civil War--were acceptable to Jefferson because they were nondiscriminatory and voluntary. Preachers of every Protestant denomination appeared. (Catholic priests began officiating in 1826.) As early as January 1806 a female evangelist, Dorothy Ripley, delivered a camp meeting-style exhortation in the House to Jefferson, Vice President Aaron Burr, and a "crowded audience." Throughout his administration Jefferson permitted church services in executive branch buildings. The Gospel was also preached in the Supreme Court chambers.

---

From the Library of Congress:

The State becomes the Church: Jefferson and Madison



Jefferson simply didn't want an official church of the US government as there was in European governments. He'd have thought it madness to ban any religious activity or practice on public property.