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I posted this on the 'Baptist' board already. It's such an important issue that I'm going to post it again.
I recently watched a video on You Tube which featured Al Sharpton and Tony Perkins debating whether there was a "war on Christianity" in this country.
I'm sure that Perkins and his ilk think that there's a war against Christianity. For a long, long time now, Christians have held a very strong majority position in this country. That position is being threatened now as our country becomes increasingly more diverse - especially in terms of religion. The fundamentalists' natural reaction to such diversity is to call it persecution.
It's no longer even accurate to call us 'one nation under God'. We are more properly 'one nation under many gods', as our country is a melting-pot culturally and religiously.
Christian claims of a 'war on Christians' actually reveal quite a bit of bias on their part, as they seem to support religious freedom when it applies to Christians, but not to non-Christians. That's clearly wrong. If religious freedom applies to Christianity and its adherents, it must also apply to other religions and their adherents.
This all boils down into one question: how do we protect the rights of the majority (supposedly Christians) while protecting the rights of the minority? The separation of church and state.
Separation of church and state is a doctrine of neutrality - that the government should remain neutral towards ALL the religions in our country so as to protect the rights of the adherents of all the religions in this country. Without such a good principle, it would be possible for the Christian church to control the government. Or the Buddhist church. Or the Wiccan church. It would also be possible for the government to decree to its citizens what and how to believe. I don't think that anyone, excepting extremists on both sides of the aisle, truly wants either scenario to actually take place in our country.
Anti-church/state separation Christians will often concede that they agree with one principle of the First Amendment/Separation of church and state: non-governmental interference in religious matters. It is true that the government cannot (or at least should not) interfere in religious matters for the reasons stated in the last paragraph. But this is only one part of church/state separation. If the government must stay out of religious matters, it follows that the church should stay out of government matters also. It would be wrong for the church of any religion in this country to impose its will on the government, because that one church would not be speaking for ALL American citizens but the citizens who belong to its congregation. All citizens of the United States may not believe, for example, that the Bible is literally true. Or that Buddha is a god. In the opinion of our founding fathers, who established church/state separation, American citizens should not be forced to believe such theological views either. The government should leave such matters to individual consciences.
This does not all mean, however, that we should enact complete separation between church and state. Christian citizens who feel a theological or personal need to serve in a political capacity should be allowed to do so. A President who says 'God bless America' at the end of a speech because they truly believe that God is blessing America, should be allowed to do so. A child in public school who feels led to pray silently before a test or with a group of fellow Christian classmates should be allowed to do so. It's only when religion is forced upon a certain individual or group of individuals, as was the case when mandatory Christian prayer was conducted every morning in public school, that the wall between church and state has been violated.
These Christians are wrong. Nobody is out to "get" Christianity or well-meaning, Bible-believing Christians. Rather, those of us who believe in the separation of church and state are simply making the political and social atmosphere of this country accomodating to ALL citizens, regardless of belief or religious preference. That is what our founding fathers intended for our country. And why we all should do everything we can to protect the separation of church and state and its principles - because THERE CAN BE NO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WITHOUT THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.
I recently watched a video on You Tube which featured Al Sharpton and Tony Perkins debating whether there was a "war on Christianity" in this country.
I'm sure that Perkins and his ilk think that there's a war against Christianity. For a long, long time now, Christians have held a very strong majority position in this country. That position is being threatened now as our country becomes increasingly more diverse - especially in terms of religion. The fundamentalists' natural reaction to such diversity is to call it persecution.
It's no longer even accurate to call us 'one nation under God'. We are more properly 'one nation under many gods', as our country is a melting-pot culturally and religiously.
Christian claims of a 'war on Christians' actually reveal quite a bit of bias on their part, as they seem to support religious freedom when it applies to Christians, but not to non-Christians. That's clearly wrong. If religious freedom applies to Christianity and its adherents, it must also apply to other religions and their adherents.
This all boils down into one question: how do we protect the rights of the majority (supposedly Christians) while protecting the rights of the minority? The separation of church and state.
Separation of church and state is a doctrine of neutrality - that the government should remain neutral towards ALL the religions in our country so as to protect the rights of the adherents of all the religions in this country. Without such a good principle, it would be possible for the Christian church to control the government. Or the Buddhist church. Or the Wiccan church. It would also be possible for the government to decree to its citizens what and how to believe. I don't think that anyone, excepting extremists on both sides of the aisle, truly wants either scenario to actually take place in our country.
Anti-church/state separation Christians will often concede that they agree with one principle of the First Amendment/Separation of church and state: non-governmental interference in religious matters. It is true that the government cannot (or at least should not) interfere in religious matters for the reasons stated in the last paragraph. But this is only one part of church/state separation. If the government must stay out of religious matters, it follows that the church should stay out of government matters also. It would be wrong for the church of any religion in this country to impose its will on the government, because that one church would not be speaking for ALL American citizens but the citizens who belong to its congregation. All citizens of the United States may not believe, for example, that the Bible is literally true. Or that Buddha is a god. In the opinion of our founding fathers, who established church/state separation, American citizens should not be forced to believe such theological views either. The government should leave such matters to individual consciences.
This does not all mean, however, that we should enact complete separation between church and state. Christian citizens who feel a theological or personal need to serve in a political capacity should be allowed to do so. A President who says 'God bless America' at the end of a speech because they truly believe that God is blessing America, should be allowed to do so. A child in public school who feels led to pray silently before a test or with a group of fellow Christian classmates should be allowed to do so. It's only when religion is forced upon a certain individual or group of individuals, as was the case when mandatory Christian prayer was conducted every morning in public school, that the wall between church and state has been violated.
These Christians are wrong. Nobody is out to "get" Christianity or well-meaning, Bible-believing Christians. Rather, those of us who believe in the separation of church and state are simply making the political and social atmosphere of this country accomodating to ALL citizens, regardless of belief or religious preference. That is what our founding fathers intended for our country. And why we all should do everything we can to protect the separation of church and state and its principles - because THERE CAN BE NO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WITHOUT THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.
