Everyone quotes "separation of church and state." Almost nobody has read where the phrase actually comes from. In this episode of The Marc Little Show, Pastor Marc Little, a pastor, lawyer, and political commentator, goes back to January 1, 1802, and the letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut. Marc walks through the letter in full context and makes the case that the wall it describes was built to keep government out of the church, not to keep God out of government, a distinction that has been inverted over the last two centuries. From there, Marc traces four Supreme Court rulings across sixty years that reshaped the role of faith in American public life: Engel v. Vitale (1962), which removed prayer from public schools; Roe v. Wade (1973); Stone v. Graham (1980), which struck the Ten Commandments from Kentucky classrooms; and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). He connects each ruling to Proverbs 14:34, arguing that a nation's moral foundation cannot be legislated out of existence by court order alone. The episode then turns to the case now sitting in front of the Supreme Court, Cribbs Ringer v. Comal Independent School District, the legal fight over Texas Senate Bill 10 and its requirement that public classrooms display the Ten Commandments. Marc lays out both sides of the constitutional argument honestly, then raises a direct challenge to the Christian and Jewish families named as plaintiffs in the case, asking whether their objection is to a specific translation, or to the moral law itself. In this episode, Pastor Marc covers: The real story behind Thomas Jefferson's 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist AssociationWhy the "wall of separation" was built to restrain government, not to erase God from public lifeFour Supreme Court rulings that reshaped faith in American public life: Engel v. Vitale, Roe v. Wade, Stone v. Graham, and Obergefell v. HodgesThe current Supreme Court case over Texas SB10 and Ten Commandments displays in public classroomsWhy some of the plaintiffs challenging SB10 are Christian and Jewish, and what that reveals about the argumentProverbs 14:34 and what it means for a nation's moral foundationIf you are searching for: The truth about separation of church and state, a Christian legal perspective on the Ten Commandments in public schools, a biblical and constitutional analysis of religious liberty, or coverage of the Cribbs Ringer v. Comal ISD Supreme Court case, this episode covers all of it. The Marc Little Show examines faith, law, and politics with the seriousness those subjects deserve. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Listen and follow: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | marclittleshow.com Send us Fan Mail Support the show If you liked this episode, subscribe, download it, and share it. Follow our host, Marc Little, on most social media platforms at @realmarctlittle.
