Damn it. I had to go and read the Letters to the Editor section of the E-version of the Statesman. Of course, I found something I had to respond to. Here is the ignorant fallacy:

"Separation is a myth

I disagree forcefully with the June 13 letter "Separation not a myth." The writer expects us to assume, as liberals would have us do, that separation of church and state is a principle found in our Constitution and desired by our founding fathers.

"Separation of church and state" never appears in the Constitution. The founding fathers put in a section stating that there should be "no establishment of religion," but they meant it to be understood as "no established denomination of Christianity." It was not until activist judge rulings in the 1960s that "separation of church and state" was even mentioned.

Contrary to liberals' beliefs, it is not conservatives who wish to throw out the Constitution. It is liberals who want to twist its meaning around to suit their purposes.

DAVID RUNYON
Pflugerville"

Here is my enlightened response:

"It's No Myth

Judging by David Runyon's letter of June 18 claiming that "separation of church and state" is not a constitutional principle, was never intended by the founders and was instead invented by "activist" judges in the 1960s, he must have slept through his US history classes. Luckily for him, I did not and can set him straight.

The establishment clause of the First Amendment, as it is known in scholarly circles, was indeed meant to prevent congress from passing any laws concerning religion, positive or negative, and I know so because Thomas Jefferson wrote so in a famous letter to the Danbury Baptist association in 1802. In fact, he invented the phrase "separation of church and state" in the letter explaining to the church folks that the establishment clause was intended to build a "wall of separation between church and state" because religion is a personal matter between a citizen and his/her god.

Further proof of the founders intention to create a secular government is found in Article XI of the Treaty with the Bey and people of Tripoli, signed by founder and 2nd President John Adams and unanimously ratified by the US Senate in 1797. It states that "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." For brevity's sake, I'll stop there, though there's lot more evidence from quotes of founders like George Washington, James Madison, Ben Franklin and Tom Paine, as well as a lot more than quoted here from Adams and Jefferson. Look them up. They're all over the internet.

Opinions are fine, Mr. Runyon, but they only mean something when supported by and weaned from fact.

Tom Chamberlain
Austin"