“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,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”

These are the words of Thomas Jefferson, in an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association. The phrase “wall of separation” has since been often used to refer to the idea that religion and government should not be mixed.

I will not belabor quotes of the Founding Fathers, which could show over and over that it was absolutely the intention of our newly-formed nation to keep religion out of our government, and government out of our religion.

I will not belabor those quotes because in addition to the difficulty of verifying obscure quotes from 250 years ago, the whole notion of saying “the founders agree with me, or would if they were here” has lost all meaning.

For example, David Barton, a minister who claims the separation of church and state is a myth, authored a book entitled “The Jefferson Lies,” which has been recognized by the History News Network as “the least credible history book in print.” Barton’s publisher later ceased printing due to factual errors and misrepresentations committed by Barton.

Even without the help of the words and deeds of the founding fathers, an airtight case can be made as to why church and state simply should not mix — at least not in this country.

Stephanie Schubert’s letter to the editor, printed in Monday’s Daily opinion section, did a wonderful job of calling out Tom the Preacher on his factual error in claiming that the Supreme Court declared Bible reading and prayer in schools unconstitutional. Stephanie went on to celebrate our nation’s dedication to supporting religious freedom and public discourse.

Stephanie’s letter hit the nail on the head. She accurately corrected Tom in saying that only school sponsored prayer, or religiously coercive behavior in schools, was declared unconstitutional.

To be perfectly clear: If a government-funded institution (such as a school) were to arbitrarily dictate that certain religious texts were banned or that students could not pray privately on school grounds, that institution would be engaging in an illegal action.

Even those like myself, who are vehemently opposed to the melding of church and state, would be outraged by such religious persecution.

But isn’t any limitation by definition prohibiting free exercise? In short, no.

For example, we still have free speech even though certain kinds of speech are banned in some circumstances. The famous Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States held that some speech, like encouragement of insubordination during times of war, constitutes such a danger as to be unprotected by the Constitution.

It might be hard to see how leading children in prayer constitutes a danger to the American public, but by endorsing a certain religion — or even the idea that some divine presence exists — our government would be overstepping its bounds as to what parts of its citizens’ lives it can regulate.

Stalwart opponents might still contend that such a distinction is not for nine heathens in black robes to make. That view is totally at odds with the Constitution, which states that the judicial power of the United States is given to one supreme court, and any lower courts that Congress creates.

This means that the Supreme Court, not your religious leader, gets to interpret the Constitution. Case closed.

Despite this glaring argument otherwise, many still claim we are in fact a Christian nation, therefore we should be able to teach the Bible and lead Christian prayers in schools. While 76 percent of the adult population claims to belong to some sect of Christianity according to a 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, this does not give them the right to do whatever they want.

We are not a Christian nation just because most of our citizens are Christian. If that kind of logic was valid, we would also be a female nation because most of our citizens are women.

No matter what margin a group holds majority by, they cannot coerce the beliefs and opinions of minority groups. After all, the 24 percent of Americans who are not Christian are still Americans. They deserve the protection of our laws and Constitution just as much as their heavenly counterparts.

If some group wants to create a national religion, they need to get two-thirds of Congress or two-thirds of the state legislatures to propose an amendment to the Constitution. Then they need to get three-fourths of the state legislatures to ratify that amendment. Until that day, prayers to end the separation of church and state will go unanswered.