First Things RSS Feed - Stephen F. Smith https://www.firstthings.com/author/stephen-f-smith en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:53:29 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/stephen-f-smith 60 Separation of Church and State https://www.firstthings.com/article/2002/12/separation-of-church-and-state https://www.firstthings.com/article/2002/12/separation-of-church-and-state Sun, 01 Dec 2002 00:00:00 -0500 During last year’s commencement exercises at the University of Virginia, every graduate received a fancy compendium of excerpts from Thomas Jefferson’s most notable writings, including the Declaration of Independence and the famous Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. These sources suggest that Jefferson regarded the founding of the American nation, and the essential character of the polity “We the People” created, as religiously motivated acts, not simply applied Lockean social contract theory. To this extent, at least, the public square was not “naked”—or so it might seem.

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