Why Eroding the Separation of Church and State DOES NOT WORK
Eroding the separation of church and state does NOT improve our ‘moral’ standing as a nation – it degrades it, as it degrades those whom are being repressed by these intolerant and oppressive ideas.
I touched on this previously – and I think it is worth looking more closely at.
I have stated this before, but it needs to be restated: Religion, morality and spirituality are three separate tenets. YES, I will not deny that religion as an institution is meant to provide a vehicle FOR morality and spirituality – but that does not mean that it does. At least, not for everybody.
Let’s look at the Constitution of the United States. Article 6 states, “no religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” The First Amendment of the Constitution adds, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” These two provisions, some interpret, establish no national religion – which I think can be taken even further, to mean that religion shall not be a determinant for anybody running for office, nor laws that are put in place by the Congress.
The argument that those who feel this constitutionally dictated separation should be eroded make, as I interpret it, is thus: Times are hard. Only through a renewed faith and greater morality can we recover, and improve our lots in life. As such, we need to bring more faith into public life.
I can agree that faith can be a good thing, and might help us better our lives. But faith is a personal matter, and as such, has no place as a part of government policy. And moreover – since there are so many different variations OF faith, none should dominate any of the others when it comes to policy.
One of the strengths of the United States, I firmly believe, is our diversity. Every religion, every ethnicity, every notion of the powers-that-be or lack of such is represented. We are the land of the free. We are the melting pot. Choose your cliché – but I believe it is this notion, that all are welcome and have representation, that makes us strong.
As such, choosing to allow faith – and for the sake of arguing my point, let’s focus on generic Christianity – to dictate policy is a mistake.
Let me digress a moment and state I have NOTHING against ANY organized religion, or its followers. So long as THEY don’t try to force their beliefs on ME, or force me to their particular morality – they are free to practice as they see fit. MY beliefs, for certain, are NOT for everyone.
That said: You can argue all you want that the majority of those who ascribe to a religion claim some form of Christianity as their faith – but as with all other fights for equality we have seen, that does not give them any more power than Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindi, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists, etc etc.
Black people fought for equality. Women have fought for equality. In the 21st century, homosexuals are now fighting for equality. But this has never been an issue where religion is concerned…at least, not up until recently.
Faith, as they are calling it, has begun to play an enormous role in our political discourse. The current crop of candidates that the Republican party are presenting us, in fact, blatantly call up their faith as they make their case for why they should be elected to the highest office in the land. More, they are making it abundantly clear that their faith is of far greater importance than equality, than constitutionally protected rights, or, as far as I am concerned, reason and logic.
Suddenly, government entities are attempting to push more and more initiatives that are based on nothing but religious faith, rather than reason. Yes, I am specifically talking about the new laws of ‘personhood’ being pushed in various states, medically unnecessary procedures being used to shame a woman into not having an abortion, laws allowing pharmacists to make faith-based decisions on distributing contraception, laws denying marriage to same-sex couples, laws forcing education about only abstinence and not safe sex, and many more attempts to limit freedoms all in the name of faith.
This does NOT improve our moral standing. I believe it does exactly the opposite. Faith is important, don’t get me wrong – but faith is PERSONAL. And it should not be a part of making laws.
Preachers have often said inspirational things. They have been known for speeches that stir the soul, that inspire and influence men to great and terrible things. And there is a movement, less and less underground and more and more at the forefront, to infuse faith into our government, and erode the constitutional separation of these entities. And the “preachers” are coming with more and more authority, loud voices, avid followers – and most important in this day and age – lots and lots of money.
And THAT, when you get down to it, is the crux of the problem. The money. The people preaching for erosion of church and state separation are backed by obscene amounts of money, and have control over media entities and other means to stir the fear. They manage to convince people by spending that money that without them, and the faith they preach, they will be lost. They are trying to convince us that the lack of faith in the separation is evil, and begets terrible things.
And it is amazing and terrible what they blame on this. Gay marriage, abortion, dysfunctional families, terrorism, global warming – all of these, some argue, are a result of our moral decay. And they go on to tell us that without faith in our state, the decay will get worse – and so we must erode this policy further.
The thing is – faith can be as false as it can be true. Faith in any one church, any single religion, is fraught with uncertainty. And most important of all – faith for me is not the same as faith for you. Or him. Or her. Or them. Or anyone.
Eroding the separation of church and state in a nation of EVERY faith, EVERY religion, does not improve us morally. It caters to more fear, more intolerance, more hatred – and fear, intolerance and hate are not healthy aspects of moral fiber.
Eroding separation of church and state will not improve the nation, or the world. Education, tolerance, courage and love, however, will. Accepting our differences, embracing them, finding ways to bring them together will make us more moral. Call it a crunchy-hippy idea if you want – but please, prove to me I am wrong about this. Show me that the power of intolerance, hatred and fear is far better for our lives than the power of love, acceptance and courage.
And if you CAN show me this – what kind of a future do you think this can possibly lead to for human kind?
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