Christianity and the Common Law
A Jewish rabbi of Chicago is anxious to have a legal settlement of the question, “Is Christianity a part of the common law of this country?” He has written a letter on the subject to the Albany Law Journal. He asks American jurists to investigate his question, to let Jewish citizens know how far the practical application of legal Christianity may possibly go, and to take proper steps for the abolition of the un-American principle of established Christianity. But whatever any lawyer may have told this Chicago rabbi, his question is one which he should not have been under the necessity of asking. He should have known, as an intelligent citizen, that the Christian religion forms no part of the common law, or of our legal system, any more than it does of our political legislation or constitutional system. There are men who desire the adoption of an ecclesiastical amendment to the Constitution making Christianity the recognized religion of the country. But the mere fact that such an amendment would disfranchise more than fifty thousand Jewish citizens and voters who must refuse to take the oath to support and maintain it, is itself conclusive evidence that it could not be adopted. The Jews are perfectly safe in the enjoyment of all their religious and political rights.