(Editor's Notes by Christina Myer - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

The first words of the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution are these: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

It’s not a difficult passage to understand.

Sure, the authors of the Constitution included words such as “blessings” in their work, and the Declaration of Independence indicates the majority of them believed in the idea of a Creator, but not all the founders were people of faith, let alone Christians. Those who were Christians practiced under a wide variety of denominations.

Given the reason for one of the more famous groups of European travelers setting out for what they called the New World, we know there was a healthy understanding of what it meant to be pinned down by state religion in the form of the Church of England. They must have wanted to avoid such control and exclusion here.

I consider myself to be not only a person of faith, but a Christian. I also do my best to behave in a way that doesn’t make others think a person who calls herself a Christian is out to get them. The government has had nothing to do with that.

But, back to the history lessons.

Article I of the West Virginia Constitution includes this: “The constitution of the United States of America, and the laws and treaties made in pursuance thereof, shall be the supreme law of the land.”

Article III, Section 15 of the West Virginia Constitution reads: “Religious freedom guaranteed:

“No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever; nor shall any man be enforced, restrained, molested or burthened, in his body or goods, or otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument, to maintain their opinions in matters of religion; and the same shall, in nowise, affect, diminish or enlarge their civil capacities; and the Legislature shall not prescribe any religious test whatever, or confer any peculiar privileges or advantages on any sect or denomination, or pass any law requiring or authorizing any religious society, or the people of any district within this state, to levy on themselves, or others, any tax for the erection or repair of any house for public worship, or for the support of any church or ministry, but it shall be left free for every person to select his religious instructor …”

Again, emphasis mine.

Our elected officials have got to be more careful about using language that disregards these foundational documents — even if they believe they are doing the right thing.

“We need to teach our kids about the history of America, the ideals, the values and the beliefs that led to the founding of the greatest nation in the history of the world,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said this week. “Our students will learn that here in West Virginia, we do value God, family and country.”

If they are getting accurate lessons about our founders and their ideals, there will be questions about a statement like that. And yes, many West Virginians DO value God and consider themselves to be Christians. That does not mean those who don’t, or don’t think about their faith in the same way, aren’t West Virginians.

“That is our founding. Our founding was a Christian founding. … The Great Awakening was the midwife of the American Revolution. That’s where the idea, the concept of freedom came from; from God, in scripture,” said state Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood.

That’s not quite right, either, as the above snippets from our foundational documents and honest, factual history lessons on the matter would attest.

We’ve got to be careful about letting what many of us believe, and how many of us want to live our lives, change our reading of the documents that set out the limitations of the government in both our country and state. Authors of both constitutions knew what they were doing. Maybe we should put a little faith in them.

Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com