In his famous 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, Thomas Jefferson wrote of the first amendment, “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act…[which built] a wall of separation between Church & State.” The following Sunday, Jefferson attended worship services in the chamber of the House of Representatives.

A wall between church and state? The author of the phrase placed a quite different meaning on it than does the ACLU—or, ahem, my good friend Mr. Stuttaford.