What was Jefferson's "wall of separation between church and state" supposed to address?

Question

Why did Jefferson write about it, and what did he mean by it?

Answer 1

That there would be no officially sanctioned state religion--no Church of the United States, so to speak.  It kept in mind the differing religious backgrounds and belief systems and methods of worship of the people who first colonized the area.  However, it does not mean freedom *from* religion, merely that people can worship as they see fit, considering at the time, most kids learned to read with the family Bible and the 10 Commandments were everywhere.  (Even if one is not Christian or Jewish, everyone following the 10 Commandments does make for a more pleasant society...)

Answer 2

I believe you get two-camps of opinion on this issue one to the liberals, one to the religious-conservatives.

1) Liberals: are faithful to bring out that nothing remotely religious should dictate what the Government says, does, or implements.

2) Religious-Conservatives: are faithful to bring out that nothing of Governmental-Jurisdiction should dictate how, when, and where they should practice their respective faiths.

In the spirit of Hegel, both camps are actually right.... and for decades if not centuries... one camp is trying to declare 'Victory' over the other, when I believe Jefferson was attempting to have this healthy-dichotomy between these two very camps.  In a sense, it becomes an unspoken check-and-balance between church and state.

A) Religious-Conservatives: Need to understand, if 'Faith' dictates policy in Government, what of the day that 'Faith' isn't theirs... hence the seperation of Church & State.

B) Liberals: Need to understand, that if people aren't free to express their faith in whatever capacity they so choose then how 'Liberated' can we be in the sense the founding-fathers intended, such as Jefferson wanted...again hence... the seperation of church and state.

Answer 3

The battle for dominance has existed between those that feel empowered in the ability to lead public opinion, and the wise who consider enduring long term stability paramount.

It is simply a battle of will that dictates the separation of Church and State. Perfection is found in unified harmony. The Church, State and Bank or Treasury working jointly towards the greater good.

The inability to orchestrate this peace manoeuvre maintains divisions from the very highest to each stratum of society. It is evident the world or a nation cannot preach cohesive unity unless it is pre-empted from the highest trinity.

Answer 4

It is meant to address his fear that his conception of the hegemic authority of secular government might be overcome by a rival system ("the church") that claimed to be grounded on an authority higher than that of human willfulness or legal constructs and at the time had far more reaching cultural import than the emerging nation state of the United States of America. By seperating "church" and "state" he believed the power of the state would be enhanced and the authority of the church curtailed.

Answer 5

Awesome!  Someone is interested in this topic and doesn't assume the commonly believed perception of the separation between church and state.

I was watching CSPAN book TV a while back and the topic came up of what T.J. meant by those words.  Paraphrasing as I recall, it was said that the Church and State acknowledged and respected the purpose of the other and therefore they do not impede on each other.