Tradition!

As Americans, we have such faith in the rightness of the principles established at the beginning of our nation. We are fiercely protective of our traditions and fearful of straying too far from the path envisioned by our founding fathers. Our independence was hard-won, after all, and our democratic republic does indeed offer us a precious freedom.

Since our country's history is not very long --only a few hundred years-- it seems as though we should be able to remember it accurately and easily stay on track, but this is surprisingly not so.  

For instance, people get upset when changes are proposed to the Pledge of Allegiance, especially when it is proposed that the words, "under God" be tampered with, even though there was no such thing as a 'pledge of allegiance' until 1892, that it was not officially recognized by Congress until 1923, and the words 'under God' were not added until 1954. 

And from time to time a furor erupts as to whether the phrase "In God We Trust" on our currency should be removed or altered -- as if the motto was handed down directly from Washington and Jefferson.  In reality our money did not include this phrase until 1864.  So intense is the debate on this subject that The Supreme Court was recently asked to take up the question of whether the motto is a government endorsement of religion, which would be a violation of the separation of Church and State.  (The Court denied review without comment -- wisely, it seems to me.)

These examples came to mind this morning when I found the above Internet meme posted on the facebook page of Being Liberal. Here is a relatively rare example of a liberal group using one of the 'founding fathers' to make a point. Conservative groups --especially The Tea Party -- are far more likely to quote (or misquote) our early statesmen, most often these days in the context of the second amendment and the right to bear arms. 

Many sources report the fact that John Quincy Adams did not take the oath of office using a Bible, that he used a book of  law instead, so the first part of the meme's assertion is correct. But did he make this choice specifically to demonstrate support for the separation of Church and State? 

There doesn't seem to be any evidence to support this claim.  He apparently makes mention of the choice in his diary, indicating that he chose the book of law because he was swearing fealty to those laws, to upholding the Constitution. 

I think the makers of the meme have overstepped, choosing a motivation for his actions because it suits their purpose.

John Quincy Adams was an extremely religious man who held the Bible in highest esteem, as his letters to his son  make abundantly clear.  Here is an excerpt from one letter:

St. Petersburg, Sept., 1811

MY DEAR SON: In your letter of the 18th January to your mother, you mentioned that you read to your aunt a chapter in the Bible or a section of Doddridge’s Annotations every evening. This information gave me real pleasure; for so great is my veneration for the Bible, and so strong my belief, that when duly read and meditated on, it is of all books in the world, that which contributes most to make men good, wise, and happy — that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more steadily they pursue the practice of reading it throughout their lives, the more lively and confident will be my hopes that they will prove useful citizens to their country, respectable members of society, and a real blessing to their parents. 

It is interesting then, that he, of all Presidents, would choose not to use it in his inauguration.  Perhaps he felt that the Bible was too sacred to be involved in any non-religious ceremony.  

His decision, then, might represent a sort of deliberate separation of church and state, but a different sort than we are accustomed to these days.   Rather than venerating the State as something not to be corrupted by the influence of any one religious power,  it seems Adams could be suggesting the Bible might be too pure and sacred for him to involve with mundane matters.