Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Charlottesville, VA, USA. more »
View more posts
7 replies on “Church and state separation is for the good of church.”
When the spiritual is made to serve the merely political, it is cheapened.
DeLay, Robertson, Frist and the like have done egregious harm to the faith they claim to champion. Sad and dangerous, America suffers.
BY a series of recent initiatives, Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians. The elements of this transformation have included advocacy of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, opposition to stem cell research involving both frozen embryos and human cells in petri dishes, and the extraordinary effort to keep Terri Schiavo hooked up to a feeding tube.
Standing alone, each of these initiatives has its advocates, within the Republican Party and beyond. But the distinct elements do not stand alone. Rather they are parts of a larger package, an agenda of positions common to conservative Christians and the dominant wing of the Republican Party.
[snip]
High-profile Republican efforts to prolong the life of Ms. Schiavo, including departures from Republican principles like approving Congressional involvement in private decisions and empowering a federal court to overrule a state court, can rightfully be interpreted as yielding to the pressure of religious power blocs.
In my state, Missouri, Republicans in the General Assembly have advanced legislation to criminalize even stem cell research in which the cells are artificially produced in petri dishes and will never be transplanted into the human uterus. They argue that such cells are human life that must be protected, by threat of criminal prosecution, from promising research on diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and juvenile diabetes.
It is not evident to many of us that cells in a petri dish are equivalent to identifiable people suffering from terrible diseases. I am and have always been pro-life. But the only explanation for legislators comparing cells in a petri dish to babies in the womb is the extension of religious doctrine into statutory law.
I do not fault religious people for political action. Since Moses confronted the pharaoh, faithful people have heard God’s call to political involvement. Nor has political action been unique to conservative Christians. Religious liberals have been politically active in support of gay rights and against nuclear weapons and the death penalty. In America, everyone has the right to try to influence political issues, regardless of his religious motivations.
The problem is not with people or churches that are politically active. It is with a party that has gone so far in adopting a sectarian agenda that it has become the political extension of a religious movement.
When government becomes the means of carrying out a religious program, it raises obvious questions under the First Amendment. But even in the absence of constitutional issues, a political party should resist identification with a religious movement. While religions are free to advocate for their own sectarian causes, the work of government and those who engage in it is to hold together as one people a very diverse country. At its best, religion can be a uniting influence, but in practice, nothing is more divisive. For politicians to advance the cause of one religious group is often to oppose the cause of another.
Believe it or not (well, maybe you already know) but…the Baptist faith was founded by Roger Williams, a great progressive for his time.
I wrote about the “church of fag-haters” a few weeks ago and contrasted it with guiding principles of the Baptist faith, as it was initially conceived.
Perhaps it’s worth discussing what Jefferson would have thought about a condition where the state was interfering in the affairs and activities of the church?
Shaun,
It might be worth discussing what Washington would have thought about a condition where the Hessians were interfering with the affairs and activities of the US Navy, but it woldn’t be relevant to anything that’s happening in the world today.
Here’s a bunch of questions to ask whenever politicial demogogues try to incite Christians by making us believe that we’re an oppressed minority:
Can anyone think of a day in our national calendar when Federal and State offices are closed because of a Christian Holiday?
Can anyone think of one President or Vice President, or any member of the President’s cabinet who was a church-going Christian?
Can anyone name a Representative or Senator in Congress who has not been forced to resign once he or she became openly Christian?
Can anyone think of a state level representative who openly practices Christianity?
Can anyone think of a state or federal judge who has been appointed to the bench or elected despite being Christian?
Can anyone think of any U.S. diplomats who retained their jobs once it was discovered that they were raised Christian?
Can anyone think of any Christian symbols that are mounted and celebrated in our nation’s capital on an annual basis?
Can anyone think of a single town in America where it is safe to attend a Christian church?
Can anyone think of a single place in America where Christian Churches have not been the subject of regular abuse from the public?
Can anyone think of a single U.S. University that does not have a quota system to guard against the hiring of too many Christian professors?
Can anyone think of a supermarket in America where Christians are allowed to purchase food that meets their dietary requirements?
Can anyone think of a bookstore in America that sells the Christian Bible or other Christian texts?
Can anyone name a musician–alive or dead–who was allowed to sing songs in public or sell music based on Christian themes?
Can anyone name a single movie in America, popular or unpopular, that was based on a Christian topic and that more than a few people have actually heard of?
Can anyone think of a single Christian organization that has not been banned by law from walking door to door and telling Americans about Jesus Christ and the gospels?
Can anyone name an instance where a Christian stood on a public street corner, preached the gospel to passersby, but was not instantly arrested by the police?
Can anyone think of any museum in America that has been courageous enough to display a painting or sculpture that contained Christian imagery?
Can anyone think of any shows on TV that have Christian themes or talk about Christianity in an overt way–and which have actually been allowed to stay production longer than a few weeks?
Can anyone think of anywhere in America where it is possible to turn on the radio and hear Christian themes, ideas or gospel?
Can anyone name a website that discusses Christianity, but which has not been shut down by the government?
Can anyone think of a U.S. airline that has not had at least one incident where a passenger was removed from a flight for looking too Christan?
Can anyone think of a single instant where the U.S. government sent so much as one official representative to attend the funeral of a well-known Christian leader?
Can anyone name one Christian friend or relative who has not been denied a promotion because they were Christian?
Can anyone name one corporation in America that does not actively prevent its managers from hiring Christian employees?
Can anyone think of a major restaurant chain in America that his not violated the rights of Christians by denying them service?
Can anyone think of a single social club in America that does not have a clause in its club charter preventing Christians from becoming members?
Can anyone think of a hotel or resort in America that does not actively discourage reservations from Christians?
Can anyone think of any place in America where citizens feel safe enough to wear jewelry that contains Christian symbols?
Can anyone name a single college in America where Christian students are not in the minority?
Can anyone think of a hotel or motel in America that allows Christians to place so much as one Christian Bible in one bedside drawer in one of their rooms?
Can anyone name one part of America where being outwardly Christian is looked upon as a good thing? ~Frameshop
Josh, I think you read something into my question, then completely went off on a tangent.
Somewhere on the Internet, there’s a bunny with a pancake on it’s head…
When the spiritual is made to serve the merely political, it is cheapened.
DeLay, Robertson, Frist and the like have done egregious harm to the faith they claim to champion. Sad and dangerous, America suffers.
John C. Danforth, a former United States senator from Missouri, resigned in January 2005 as United States ambassador to the United Nations. He is an Episcopal minister.
A great interview with Senator Danforth [here].
So glad to see you post on the subject.
Believe it or not (well, maybe you already know) but…the Baptist faith was founded by Roger Williams, a great progressive for his time.
I wrote about the “church of fag-haters” a few weeks ago and contrasted it with guiding principles of the Baptist faith, as it was initially conceived.
Perhaps it’s worth discussing what Jefferson would have thought about a condition where the state was interfering in the affairs and activities of the church?
Shaun,
It might be worth discussing what Washington would have thought about a condition where the Hessians were interfering with the affairs and activities of the US Navy, but it woldn’t be relevant to anything that’s happening in the world today.
Here’s a bunch of questions to ask whenever politicial demogogues try to incite Christians by making us believe that we’re an oppressed minority:
Josh, I think you read something into my question, then completely went off on a tangent.
Somewhere on the Internet, there’s a bunny with a pancake on it’s head…