Originally Posted by W.J. Wilczek

Blackstone’s Commentaries was a review of English common law, and not the basis of our law under the Constitution. In Blackstone’s time, the King was the head of the Church of England, which was the established state religion. This concept was rejected by the founders of our nation. The one thing that can be gleaned from the intent of the framers of our Constitution is that they were determined to establish a secular state. They well knew that the establishment of a state religion would lead to the limitation of religious freedom, and, as recorded by history, religious wars. Indeed, some of the very first to come to America, the Pilgrims, came to escape state-sponsored religious persecution. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights represent a nation of laws and not men. The law, which defines our rights, is based upon secular principles, and not morals or religious doctrine; and the separation of church and state is one of the pillars upon which our nation stands. To make religious doctrine the basis of our law would be to return to the dark days that spawned the horrors of the Inquisition and the iniquities of the Court of Star Chamber; which was not what the founders had in mind.