Going through back-issues of The Bulletin of the Northumberland County Historical Society and cataloging them article-by-article gives me pause to find some real gems here and there. One of them is in Vol. 14 (1977), titled "Northumberland and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom." Now I know it is all the rage for some these days for some to say the U.S. was and is and Christian nation. Many of us who study history, especially Virginia history, would respectfully disagree. Of all the things Thomas Jefferson was most proud of, he only wanted three of them put on his tombstone: Author of the Declaration of American Independence, Author of The Statute for Religious Freedom and Father of the University of Virginia. On 28 November [year blank, but no doubt 1785] 112 men from Northumberland County sent a petition to the General Assembly protesting a recent act taxing the citizens to pay for "Christian" teachers. A good many of the signers were well-known Baptists. (Not a surprise to those well versed in Baptist history and beliefs.) Their protests was not so much anti-Christian as it was anti-establishment of any state religion. The "Whereas" preamble recites that the General Assembly had recently passed a statute "obliging the inhabitants of this state to pay the Teachers of the Christian Religion" and goes on in the "therefore" clause to explain their objections, saying they believe it "to be contrary to the Spirit of the Gospel and the bill of Rights; and that Legislatures should not assume the power of Establishing modes of Religion....." and "Certain it is that the Holy author of our Religion not only supported and maintained his Gospel in the world for several hundred years without the aid of Civil Power, but against all the Powers on the Earth...." and it goes on with wonderful words of protest from there. I am reminded of the old adage: People want their legislators to be Christians, but they don't want Christians to be their legislators." What a wonderful reminder from the past on just what the Separation of Church and State truly meant to our forefathers. I wish more people today would pay heed to it. It is the basis for the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, i.e., the Bill of Rights. You can learn more about this at the First Freedom Center in Richmond, VA: http://www.firstfreedom.org/ Craig Kilby