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| Declaration of Independence - oil painting by John Trumbull |
Not even during the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry, which
lasted nearly five centuries, did Jews enjoy such freedom as a matter of
fundamental law. We were often tolerated and, at times, even welcomed. But our
rights depended upon the goodwill of rulers and could be revoked at any moment.
In America, by contrast, religious liberty has been guaranteed since the
nation’s birth and permanently enshrined in the Constitution with the adoption
of the Bill of Rights.
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Some Americans argue that because the Founding Fathers were
Christians, their vision of religious liberty was intended primarily to protect
their own Protestant forebears, many of whom fled religious persecution in
England. They contend that America was meant to be a Christian nation and that the
First Amendment was never intended to create a secular state. Some activists
today invoke this argument in an effort to “make America Christian again,”
believing that was the founders’ original intent.
While most of the Founders identified as Christians, many
were far from orthodox believers. In fact they have been described as Deists,
Believing in God as the Creator – Who grants humankind inalienable rights. But
not much more beyond that. Thomas Jefferson famously produced his own edition
of the Bible, removing all references to miracles because he rejected their
supernatural claims. Several leading founders also questioned traditional
Christian doctrines such as the Trinity. What they deeply believed in, however,
were the moral principles found in the Bible. Principles drawn largely from the
Hebrew Bible, our Torah. They also firmly rejected the idea of an officially
Christian nation that favored one religion over another.
Perhaps no Founder articulated that principle more
eloquently than George Washington, without whom there likely would have been no
United States.
On August 18, 1790, President George Washington responded to
a welcome address from the Jewish congregation in Newport, Rhode Island. The
congregation’s leader, Moses Seixas, had expressed hope that Jews would enjoy
equal citizenship under the new Constitution. Washington’s reply affirmed that
hope in words that have become one of the defining statements of American
religious liberty.
He declared that the United States “gives to bigotry no
sanction, to persecution no assistance.”
Those few words represented a revolutionary idea. Washington
did not describe Jews - - r any other religious minority - as merely being
tolerated. Instead, he affirmed that all Americans possess equal rights as
citizens under the law. Religious freedom was not an act of governmental
generosity; it was an inherent right.
That letter became one of the foundational texts of American
civic life, even though it was written before the First Amendment was ratified.
For nearly two and a half centuries, that promise has
endured. Jews have enjoyed unprecedented freedom to believe, worship, educate
our children, build institutions, and contribute fully to American society.
The result has been unprecedented prosperity and opportunity…
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