Separation of Church and State
I don’t often find myself in agreement with an ultra conservative like Rick Perry, but today I found myself agreeing with him. He pointed out that the minister who slammed Mitt Romney for being a Mormon, all in defense of Perry’s campaign, was going off on a religious limb that Perry didn’t want to follow. And I agree. It was Perry’s contention that religious fights during a political campaign weren’t really appropriate, and I agreed.
That brings me to the Founding Fathers of the incredible country; they made a decision as they were drafting the Constitution that there would be no state religion; that instead there would be religious freedom. In other words, they separated the Church from the State, and that was big news in the 18th century. Guess what, in most of the World today it’s still big news. Most of the World’s countries actually still have state religions. Some of those countries practice religious freedom within that modality, but many are pure theocracies, and no other religion is tolerated in their state.
What scares me about this non-stop religious comparison at the level of a presidential campaign is that it introduces the idea that religion should play a role in the political character of this country; exactly what those Founding Fathers were trying to avoid. Countries where religious laws are the laws of the land are called theocracies, and before you jump in and say religion should rule the land, you’d better ask yourself, which religion? And don’t assume that all Christians are the same, they are not. If one Christian branch takes over the country, or one Protestant denomination, then will they be tolerant of ANYONE who is not exactly like them? History has shown that the answer is an unqualified NO.
While I sincerely hope that anyone who winds up running our country at any level of government has deep ethical and moral convictions (and watching Congress’s behaviour lately, I have my doubts about that one); I still believe in Separation of Church and State, and a religious attack between candidates should never take place.
In fact, the candidate’s religion shouldn’t even be part of the conversation!
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Excellent post! This point is exactly why I don't support (forced or assumed) prayer in school. However, I do support extracurricular religious groups that are optional in school.
Excellent post! This point is exactly why I don't support (forced or assumed) prayer in school. However, I do support extracurricular religious groups that are optional in school.
Absolutely. if a group wants to get together and practice their religious beleifs, then great. It's when those beliefs are forced down anyone else's throat, or made out to be the only truth that problems start.
Absolutely. if a group wants to get together and practice their religious beleifs, then great. It's when those beliefs are forced down anyone else's throat, or made out to be the only truth that problems start.