"Church and state - No Union upon any terms" by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly, Feb. 25, 1871. Source: Library of Congress

Separation Anxiety

Church & State in America

12.08.16

From the persecution of Quakers in colonial Massachusetts, to 21st-century battles over nativity scenes in public squares, the wall separating church and state is hardly set in stone. On this episode of BackStory, the Backstory hosts explore the often blurry line between church and state in America – from Congress’ attempts to block a Mormon Senator in the early 1900’s, to the federal government’s imprisonment of religious pacifists who refused to fight in the first world war.

First Amendment; religion; separation of church and state

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Segments

Away In A Manger

In 2009, the town of Leesburg, Va. decided it would no longer display life-sized statues of the Virgin Mary, baby Jesus and three wise men on the courthouse lawn during the holiday season. Washington Post reporter Caitlin Gibson talked to the hosts about the ensuing controversy.

Christianity; community; diversity; religion; separation of church and state

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Founding Fathers Say What?

The first amendment states that Congress can neither establish a state religion nor prohibit Americans from practicing their own. The hosts discuss what the founders might have had in mind, and how it’s played out over time.

Establishment Clause; First Amendment; Free Exercise Clause; separation of church and state

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Gimme That New Time Religion

Adam Jortner, a historian at Auburn University, talks to host Peter Onuf about how early Americans took advantage of their newfound religious freedom by embracing all kinds of unconventional religions and beliefs.

Andrew Jackson; Henry Clay; democracy; separation of church and state

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Testing, 1 . . . 2 . . . 3

There’s a clause in the Constitution that reads, “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Members of Congress forgot about that clause when they tried to keep Utah Senator Reed Smoot, an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, from taking office in 1903. University of Virginia historian Kathleen Flake helps us tell the story.

religious discrimination; religious tests; separation of church and state

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Footloose

In the early 20th century, the U.S. government tried to ban dancing on Native American reservations. But the tribes fought back, saying dancing was an expression of their religious faith. We talk to Tisa Wenger, a historian at Yale Divinity School, about the controversy.

Native American culture; Native American resistance; dance; religious conversion; separation of church and state

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I Conscientiously Object

The Hutterites were a group of Anabaptists who believed in non-violence. They’d fled persecution in Russia and had been invited to the U.S. in the 1870s by President Ulysses Grant with the promise that they would not have to serve in the military. Goshen College professor Duane Stoltzfus explains how that promise was broken when the U.S. entered WWI.

Christianity; World War I; nonviolence; separation of church and state

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