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The Conversation
The Conversation
Steven K. Green, Professor of Law, Director of the Center for Religion, Law & Democracy, Willamette University

How Jefferson and Madison’s partnership – a friendship told in letters – shaped America’s separation of church and state

A stamp printed with a Thomas Jefferson quotation in 1960. AlexanderZam/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Few constitutional principles are more familiar to the average American than the separation of church and state.

According to the Pew Research Center, 73% of adults agree that religion should be kept separate from government policies. To be sure, support varies by political or religious affiliation – with Democrats supporting the principle in much higher numbers – and depending on the specific issue, such as prayer in public schools or displays of the Ten Commandments monuments. Yet only 19% of Americans say the United States should abandon the principle of church-state separation.

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