04/16/2026
Texas Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick decided to correct a common misconception secular America has about the Constitution — there’s nothing in it about a “separation of church and state.”
As noted by a report from KRIV on Tuesday, Patrick chairs the new Religious Liberty Commission which was created by President Donald Trump via executive order last May. Per its mission statement on the Justice Department’s website, the commission works “to advise the White House Faith Office and the Domestic Policy Council on religious liberty policies of the United States, including by recommending steps to secure domestic religious liberty and identifying opportunities to further the cause of religious liberty around the world.”
Patrick, predicting the criticism leveled at the creation of such a commission, debunked the claim that the Constitution mandates church and state be kept apart.
“For too long, the anti-God left has used this phrase to suppress people of religion in our country,” he said, per KRIV.
It’s astoundingly easy to discover what the Constitution actually says on the matter.
The First Amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Where is the left getting the “separation of church and state” notion?
The source is President Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists in Connecticut dated Jan. 1, 1802, where he said, “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”
Jefferson proceeded to quote the First Amendment, but then gave his own interpretation, the key word being “thus” before opining on that phrase.
While it’s a phrase from one specific founding father, it’s not a phrase that’s actually in the Constitution.
Over the years, the First Amendment has been contorted to mean a prohibition on religion anywhere in governmental affairs, promoting the myth that our nation’s founding was a secular one.
Stand to Reason totals the number of delegates at the Constitutional Convention identifying as Christian at 51 out of 55, with one unknown and three deists.
“It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
This shows how a God-fearing people have unfortunately slowly conceded to the left, but have no basis to surrender.
Topics that the commission is considering include attacks on houses of worship, debanking of religious organizations, parental rights with religious education, voluntary prayer in schools, and government displays with religious imagery.
Patrick recognized that his hands are not tied. There’s no reason to sit idly by and let faith be suppressed in a country that never intended for it to be.
Sam Short is an Assistant Professor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London. The views expressed in his articles are his own and do not reflect the views or opinions of Motlow State Community College.
