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/* Background - GOD, The Constitution, and Political Parties */
[[George Washington]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], and the other [[Founding Fathers]] formally established the current structure of the United States by ratification of the [[U.S. Constitution]] in 1788.
Since 1788, the United States has had ONLY ONE official governing document: the US [[U.S. CONSTITUTION]].
All previous documents are mere historical reference material.
In American political life. The relationship between GOD and GOVERNMENT is the prime characteristic differentiating the various political parties.
The [[Declaration of Independence]] acknowledges the existence of a GOD when it refers to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's GOD" and says all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." That statement was inserted at the request of [[Thomas Jefferson]], whose religious beliefs were more Unitarianism/Christian.
It is established fact that most early Americans came there for Religious Freedom. The American [[Founding Fathers]] called themselves Christians, and acted as though the United States was founded upon the principles and ideals of Christianity.
This Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the [[U.S. Constitution]] began increasingly to be tested and interpreted by the judiciary in the late 19th century as a result of the increasing population of religious [[minorities]] in the United States.
The various differences and contradictions between the founding documents such as the "Declaration of Independence", the US [[U.S. Constitution]]", the "Federalist Papers", and the many personal papers of the [[Founding Fathers]] has not helped to resolve the issue.
This is important to understand, as in recent decades, the US [[U.S. Supreme Court ]] has re-interpreted this clause to represent an actual, "physical separation" of Religion from Government. This "separation of Church and State" interpretation has become a continuing source of conflict in American society.
In America today, what political party you join is often determined by your personal view of the relationship between "GOD and GOVERNMENT." All other lesser social issues, whether they be Abortion, Euthanasia, Freedom of Speech, etc. are all subserviant in one way or another to an individuals' view of "GOD and GOVERNMENT."
