Welcome back to Outlaw Faith, where today we’re kicking down the door of one of the biggest lies in modern politics: separation of church and state.
If you’ve ever mentioned God in a public setting — or worse, a government setting — someone has probably shouted this phrase at you like they just won a debate trophy. Problem is, they have no clue what it actually means. And if Thomas Jefferson could see what they’ve done with his words, he’d probably chuck a brick through their window.
Where It Actually Comes From
The phrase comes from a letter — not the Constitution, not the Declaration, not the Bill of Rights. A letter Jefferson wrote in 1802 to the Danbury Baptists. They were worried that the federal government might create a national church (like the Church of England). Jefferson assured them that the First Amendment built a “wall of separation between Church and State.”
That’s it.
It wasn’t about silencing faith in public life — it was about protecting churches from government interference. Jefferson wasn’t trying to keep God out of politics; he was making sure politicians couldn’t mess with how you worship God.
The Founders Wanted God In the Public Square — Loud and Clear
Let’s talk about Benjamin Rush — signer of the Declaration, medical genius, and the Father of American Education. You know what Dr. Rush said?
“The only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in religion.”
He went further:
“The Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life.”
The founder of America’s public school system literally wanted the Bible in the classroom — because he knew you can’t educate people for self-governance without moral truth. And he wasn’t alone.
What Separation Meant to Them (Not What It Means to your average blue-check X feed)
What Modern Culture Says
What the Founders Actually Believed
“No God in public.”
“Religion and morality are indispensable supports.” — Washington
“Faith is private.”
“The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.” — Adams
“Schools must be secular.”
“The Bible should be read in our schools.” — Rush
The whole point was to avoid a state-run church, not to strip faith from public life. The Founders would’ve laughed (or cried) if you told them the phrase would one day be used to ban nativity scenes from courthouses or the Ten Commandments from schools.
Faith Wasn’t a Side Note — It Was the Bedrock
Washington prayed at his inauguration.
Congress printed Bibles for schools — with tax dollars.
The Northwest Ordinance (1787) — the law for new territories — literally said schools should teach “religion, morality, and knowledge.”
Early Congress sessions opened with prayer and Bible reading — and still do.
The Founders weren’t hiding their faith under the table — they were building the table on top of it.
The Bible’s Take on It All
This whole debate is really about authority. Who’s the ultimate authority — God or government? The Bible’s answer is clear:
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” — Psalm 24:1
Governments don’t create rights — they’re supposed to recognize the rights God already gave. That’s why the Declaration says “endowed by their Creator.” If rights come from God, then governments have limits — they can’t mess with what God already settled. That’s the whole philosophy behind America. No God = no anchor for rights = government becomes your god.
What To Do With This
Next time someone throws “separation of church and state” at you, smile — then explain where it really came from.
Carry a Benjamin Rush quote in your wallet just for fun.
Don’t apologize for bringing your faith into public life — that’s literally the American way.
Tomorrow, we’ll hit the big one — What Jesus Actually Said About Politics. Spoiler: It’s way deeper than just “Render unto Caesar.”
Questions, rants, or stories about getting yelled at for praying in public? Drop them in the comments.
Welcome to Outlaw Faith — and welcome to a reality check.
If you grew up in public school, there’s a 97% chance you were told the Founders were a bunch of enlightened deists who wanted religion and politics separated like bad prom dates. If you took a college class on American history, they probably doubled down and told you the Founders wanted a “neutral” public square — where faith stayed inside your house like a drunk uncle nobody talks about.
That’s garbage. And I can prove it.
Meet the Founders — in Their Own Words
John Adams (you know, second president, helped write the Declaration) — the guy flat-out said:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
That’s not some random diary entry — that’s his public warning in 1798. Translation? Freedom only works if the people govern themselves — and self-government doesn’t work without morality and faith.
George Washington — the first president, the GOAT general — left this gem in his Farewell Address:
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
Indispensable — as in, you cannot have a free country without them. Skip church if you want, but don’t pretend Washington would’ve been cool with faithless freedom.
Benjamin Franklin — everybody’s favorite wisecracking genius, supposedly the least religious of the bunch. Even he said this at the Constitutional Convention:
“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men.” He even called for daily prayer in the middle of the Constitutional Convention because things were falling apart.
Thomas Jefferson — the dude people love to call a secularist — told the Virginia Assembly:
“Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis — a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?” That’s Jefferson, folks. Not exactly the “keep your Bible off my Constitution” guy they told you about.
What They Believed vs. What You Were Taught
Textbook Myth
Actual Quote from a Founder
“The Founders wanted religion private.”
“Morality and religion are indispensable supports.” — Washington
“They were all deists.”
“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right…to knowledge of the characters and conduct of their rulers.” — Adams (and yes, he included religious character in that)
“Separation of church and state means keep God out of government.”
“God governs in the affairs of men.” — Franklin
What This Means in 2025
The Founders knew something we forgot: If people won’t govern themselves morally under God, government will step in and do it for them — badly. That’s exactly where we are now:
Cameras on every corner because people can’t be trusted to behave.
Schools teaching kids they’re animals because we erased the Creator.
Courts rewriting basic truths about biology because truth is now “personal.”
The Founders wouldn’t be shocked — they warned us this would happen if we abandoned faith.
Let’s Talk Jefferson — The Most Misquoted Man in America
They love to quote Jefferson’s “wall of separation” letter, but they cut out the part where he literally thanks God for the rights we have. The man who supposedly wanted God out of government put religious freedom into Virginia’s law himself. He didn’t want a state church — but he absolutely wanted faith shaping public life.
Jefferson knew — no God, no freedom. Period.
The Bible Backs It Up Too
The Founders didn’t invent this idea — they got it from Scripture:
Psalm 33:12 — “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”
Proverbs 14:34 — “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.”
2 Corinthians 3:17 — “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
The pattern is clear: God > Morality > Self-Governance > Freedom.
You can’t skip step one and expect the rest to work.
So What Do We Do With This?
First — stop apologizing for mixing faith and politics. The Founders did it first. Second — reclaim the truth. Next time someone says, “Separation of church and state!” hit them with actual history — and maybe a laminated quote card for fun. Third — live it. Faith isn’t just a private comfort — it’s the public foundation that makes freedom possible.
Tomorrow: Separation of Church and State — What It Actually Means (Spoiler: Not What You Think)
Questions? Comments? Angry emails from your old civics teacher? Drop them below.
Welcome to Outlaw Faith! If you’re here wondering, “Why are we mixing faith and politics?” — you’re not alone. Most of us grew up hearing about the “separation of church and state,” like it’s a brick wall between God and government. But here’s the twist: that’s not what the Founders intended.
The Danbury Letter — Where the Phrase Came From
Thomas Jefferson’s famous “wall of separation” was meant to protect the church from state interference, not to kick God out of the public square. He wrote it to reassure a group of Baptists that the government wouldn’t meddle in their worship.
“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.’”
Why the Wall Isn’t What You Think
The Founders believed faith was a bedrock for a healthy society. They didn’t want a national church like England, but they absolutely saw faith as essential for freedom. John Adams even said:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
What’s Coming This Week
This week, we’re unpacking how the Founders wove faith into their vision for America — and why that matters for us today. Each day, we’ll look at a Founder and a Biblical figure, side-by-side, to see how faith fuels freedom.
Happy Friday, outlaws — and congrats. You’ve survived Common Sense week without throwing your phone across the room (probably). Now for the hard part: doing something with all of this.
Paine didn’t write his mic-drop pamphlet just to vent. He wrote it to launch a revolution — the kind where people actually left their farms, grabbed their neighbors, and built something new from scratch. Today, I’m not asking you to fight the Redcoats (unless you see some at Walmart), but the call to build still stands.
What Are You Building?
We love to rant about the government, the culture, the media — but what are we actually building? Complaining is easy. Building is where men are made.
“He who is not a supporter of independence, is the same as a traitor.” — Thomas Paine
Updated version: If all you do is post memes and complain about taxes, you’re just making noise. Freedom takes builders— men who put their hands to the work, not just their thumbs to their phones.
What to Build in 2025 (Pick One — or All)
Your Faith: Build a prayer life that doesn’t need WiFi.
Your Family: Build a home where the Bible actually gets opened — not just on Easter.
Your Skills: Build a skillset so you’re not helpless if the grid hiccups.
Your Community: Build a crew of men who know the Constitution and can change a tire.
Your Backbone: Build a habit of saying “no” when the world says “just go along.”
This is what real outlaws do. We don’t wait for permission, and we don’t wait for perfect conditions. We build now, with what we have, where we are.
Jesus Said It First (Paine Was Just Catching Up)
“The wise man built his house on the rock.” — Matthew 7:24
That’s the whole playbook right there. You build on truth — not trends. You build for the long haul — not just the next election. And you build something that stands when storms hit — not if, but when.
What Happens If We Don’t?
Paine warned that if they ignored the moment, future generations would curse them for it. Same deal today. If we leave our kids a nation that’s broke, lost, and ashamed of its own history — that’s on us.
So build something.
A family with roots.
A church that’s fearless.
A business that’s honest.
A life that makes the enemy nervous.
That’s Outlaw Faith. That’s what Paine was pointing to — and what Jesus called us to long before that.
Next Week:Â Why are you blending religion and politics?
Alright, welcome to Thursday at Outlaw Faith — time to talk about the fight.
Paine didn’t write Common Sense so people could sit in a candlelit coffeehouse, sip tea, and say “Hmm, he makes a fine point.” No — he was trying to drag them off the fence and into the fight. The whole point of freedom is building something better — and that’s work. Hard work. Bloody knuckles work.
Why the Fight Always Comes
Paine knew what we forget: Freedom is never handed down. It’s either fought for, or taken away. There’s no peaceful middle ground where everyone sings kumbaya and agrees to leave you alone. Evil doesn’t retire. Lies don’t take a day off. Bureaucrats don’t suddenly decide they have too much power.
“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” That’s straight from Paine — and it’s Bible-level true too: “Fight the good fight of faith.” — 1 Timothy 6:12
This fight isn’t optional. It’s baked into the deal. If you want a future that’s worth living — one where your kids aren’t apologizing for believing in Jesus or thinking freedom is cool — you gotta fight for it.
What Fighting Looks Like in 2025
Here’s the thing: Most of us aren’t called to muskets and bayonets (though if you own a flintlock, respect). Today’s fight looks like:
Knowing the truth well enough to spot the lie.
Raising kids who can argue without crying.
Refusing to treat the Bible like a self-help app.
Having the guts to say “no” — to sin, to propaganda, to comfort.
Fighting as a Christian: Spoiler, It’s Weird
The Bible’s version of fighting is upside down. Jesus says stuff like:
“Love your enemies.” (Matthew 5:44) Which sounds insane until you realize — loving your enemies doesn’t mean letting them walk all over you. It means fighting for their soul even while you fight against their lies.
That’s next-level outlaw stuff. That’s what makes the world tilt its head like a confused golden retriever. They expect hate — they get truth and love in the same breath. That’s the fight we’re in.
The Cost of Sitting It Out
Paine warned the people of his time that if they didn’t fight, they’d deserve whatever came next. Same here. If we’re too distracted, too soft, or too scared to stand up, our kids inherit the mess — and they’ll look at us the way we look at people who thought disco was a good idea.
You don’t have to be a preacher or a politician — but you do have to show up. In your home. At your job. In your community. Even just knowing your own rights — your real rights — makes you dangerous in a world that thrives on ignorance.
Tomorrow: Building It Now — Where We Start, What We Build, and Who We Build It With.