Sept. 17 is Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, which is a day set aside to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, and recognize all who have become citizens of the United States. The Baptist Joint Committee has resources with information related to our country’s founding document.
The U.S. Constitution does not mention the word “Christianity,” and it uses the word “religious” only once: Article VI says there shall be “no religious test” for any public office. Two years later, the Bill of Rights added the First Amendment to the Constitution, stating “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Learn more about the Constitution and the founding of the United States with these resources:
BJC Executive Director Brent Walker’s Top 5 Myths of the Separation of Church and State (Myths #1 and #2 address constitutional myths, including the misguided idea that the U.S. was founded as a “Christian nation”)
Information on the First Amendment’s two religion clauses
A recap of Brent Walker’s presentations on church-state separation for the 2013 Walter B. and Kay W. Shurden Lectures on Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and State. Videos are included at the bottom of the page.
Law professor Michael Meyerson discusses the Framers’ compromise to protect religion during the founding of the United States in one of his presentations for the 2014 Shurden Lectures.
Today at Furman University in South Carolina, BJC General Counsel Holly Hollman is participating in a special Constitution Day event examining the Hobby Lobby decision.
To hear from other scholars on issues related to our Constitution, visit our Shurden Lectures archive page to access presentations and videos. Michael Meyerson’s lecture is embedded below:
