James Madison Quotes

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.

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

I don't believe there is a separation of church and state. I think the Constitution is very clear. The only separation is that there will not be a government church.

[The line] cannot be too strongly drawn between church and state.

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

What is crucial is that a government practice not have the effect of communicating a message of governmental endorsement or disapproval of religion.

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

Quite often you hear people say, 'What about separation of church and state?' There is no such thing.

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.

The government must pursue a course of complete neutrality toward religion.

Religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.

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.

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

Because the bill in reserving a certain parcel of land of the United States for the use of said Baptist Church comprises a principle and precedent for the appropriation of funds of the United States for the use and support of religious societies, contrary to the article of the Constitution which declares the 'Congress shall make no law respecting a religious establishment’

If they wanted a Christian state, they could have done it. They were writing the rules. They could have put God in the rules.

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

State assaults on the separation of church and state are nothing new.

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

I think church and state should remain entirely separate at all costs, and that the decision of religious marriage should be of each faith to debate and decide free of political influence.

I think the founding fathers believed religion shouldn't interact directly with government.

It doesn't say anywhere in the Constitution this idea of the separation of church and state.

No power of government ought to be employed in the endeavor to establish any system or article of belief on the subject of religion.

But separation of church and state was never meant to separate God and government.

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