Champion for Church-State Separation Dies

Robert Alley, an ardent champion for separation of church and state, has died. Author of The Constitution & Religion and several other books on church-state issues, Alley accurately reflected the historic Baptist principle regarding religious liberty for all.

Here's an excerpt from his obituary in the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

The son of a Baptist minister who adamantly supported the separation of church and state, Dr. Robert Sutherland Alley sat outside his third-grade classroom while the teacher taught religion.

"For him, it was taking a political stand," said his son Robert S. Alley Jr. of Richmond. "But he sat on the steps with a Jewish child, to whom it meant a lot more. That experience affected my father all his life."

Dr. Alley, a humanities professor emeritus at the University of Richmond and an authority on church-state relations, died Monday in a Henrico County nursing home after a year of failing health. He was 74.

"My grandfather was editor of the [Baptist] Religious Herald and wrote numerous editorials regarding separation of church and state, so my father came by his interest honestly. It was his lifetime love," Alley said.

"He was often called to testify at the General Assembly for or against bills that dealt with that subject."