James Madison Quotes

You're telling me that the separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment?

The Church's role should be separated from the state's role.

There is little doubt that religious liberty is best exercised within the setting of the secular state.

T]he prevailing opinion in Europe, England not excepted, has been that religion could not be preserved without the support of government nor government be supported without an established religion that there must be at least an alliance of some sort between them. It remained for North America to bring the great and interesting subject to a fair, and finally a decisive test

The United States may be a religious nation. But it is also a nation with a strong commitment to separation of church and state.

I think it's very important for people who are serving (in office) to make sure there's a separation of church and state.

Religion and politics are supposed to be separate.

The modern concept of separation is an argument for a total separation of religion from the state. The consequence of the acceptance of the doctrine leads to the removal of religion as an influence in civil government.

We all agree that neither the Government nor political parties ought to interfere with religious sects. It is equally true that religious sects ought not to interfere with the Government or with political parties. We believe that the cause of good government and the cause of religion both suffer by all such interference.

The Establishment Clause prohibits government from making adherence to a religion relevant in any way to a person's standing in the political community.

I think that we are at a point in our country where we're trying to decide what role should religion play in the political arena.

Whatever America's founders believed about Christianity - and they believed a wide range of things - they clearly rejected the idea of an established church.

I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.

I believe in the separation of church and state, but I do not believe in the separation of politics from religion.

When religion controls government, political liberty dies; and when government controls religion, religious liberty perishes.

Personal religious convictions have no place in political campaigns or in dictating public policy.

if any sect suffered itself to be used for political objects I would meet it by political opposition. In my view church and state should be separate, not only in form, but fact. Religion and politics should not be mingled.

There is no room for theocracy in Islam.

To say that religion cannot stand without a state establishment is not only contrary to fact (as has been proved already) but is a contradiction in phrase.

Congress shall not make any law infringing the rights of conscience, or establishing any religious sect or society Congress shall make no law establishing one religious sect or society in preference to others. Congress shall make no law establishing any particular denomination of religion in preference to another

Why should the president direct the people to do what, perhaps, they have no mind to do? They may not be inclined to return thanks for a constitution until they have experienced that it promotes their safety and happiness. We do not yet know but they may have reason to be dissatisfied with the effects it has already produced; but whether this be so or not, it is a business with which Congress have nothing to do, it is a religious matter, and, as such is proscribed to us

As to the subject of religion...no power is given to the general government to interfere with it at all. Any act of Congress on this subject would be an usurpation

There is not a shadow of right in the general government to intermeddle with religion

The settled opinion here is, that religion is essentially distinct from civil Government, and exempt from its cognizance; that a connection between them is injurious to both.

We are teaching the world the great truth, that Governments do better without kings and nobles than with them. The merit will be doubled by the other lesson: the Religion flourishes in greater purity without, than with the aid of Government