Thomas Jefferson was born 264 years ago today and yet is no less a controversial figure today than he was when he was living. In addition to the Declaration of Indepedance he left us with a strong legacy of keeping the government out of the churches business and of keeping the church as an institution out of the governments business. However, there are many who claim the mantle of speaking for Christianity who deliberately misrepresent his views on this important view. I find it tragic that many baptists are so ignorant of their own heritage that now that time and circumstance has brought to them a measure of political power they are trying to use it to gain an advantage in society that baptists of previous generations fought against. The so-called "obscure letter" that he wrote to the baptists of Danbury, Connecticut, stated in unequivocal terms that government and religion should remain separate as long as the country remained. The "wall of sepration" statement is clear in the excerpt printed below.
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