Sam Campton
April 9, 2010
Period 7
Part 1
In the history of civilization on planet earth, religion has been a key force in shaping the destiny of man. Whether it was the stories concerning the Greek pantheon or the teachings of Christ, religion has shaped all aspects of life on earth. From weather patterns, natural disasters, to the miracle of life and death, all were shown as signs from above. But as humanity grew from wandering tribes to entrenched civilizations with rules and laws, a problem occurred. Sparked even further by the Enlightenment and other scientific revolutions, religion was pushed aside for a more man made approach to life. This ever increasing attitude and rejection of religion led to a problem. This problem was the conflict of church vs. state, and the effects of this problem are continuing to influence and overwhelm our daily lives.
In this current day and age, the church vs. state conflict has its roots in 2 religions, Christianity and Islam. With these two religions housing 50% of the world’s population
(Religious Tolerance) their influence is evident in all aspects of life. Their influence is so strong; some countries are even governing their land based on the laws their religions hold. This then leads to a problem, which is when religions influence is too much. This problem is ever apparent in the United States of America, a country that has the freedom of religion written into its constitution. While the United States constitution gives the right to practice whichever religion you choose, it limits the amount of influence any religion can have in politics, because legally the government cannot favor one religion over another. But the limits this freedom of religion imposes on the government are
continuously assaulted on all sides by different denominations, which are trying to impose their version of the ultimate truth, and what that truth deems as good and bad, on our political system. This can be seen readily in politics on almost a
daily basis. It’s no coincidence that in a country founded on protestant beliefs; only one president elected has been of a non-protestant faith. It’s also not a surprise that no atheist, or someone of any other religion besides Christianity, has been elected at all in to the nation’s highest office of power. This unspoken of bias is one of the many challenges facing not only the government of the United States and its laws, but also the sanctity of the church, and what role it will play in the future.
The problem of church vs. state in the United States has not gone unnoticed by the general public, and many demand action towards minimizing its ever increasing influence. In an
ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted in 2004, “two thirds of Americans say religious leaders should not attempt to influence politicians’ positions on the issue.” This same poll also brings up an interesting point about the United States political system. According to the poll, 35% of participants believed the church should try to influence politics, while 65% said no, yet amongst Conservative Evangelical Protestants; the split went 55% to 45% in favor of church leaders influencing politicians. (ABC). With the last 8 years held by conservatives, it seems the churches influence on our government has increased, and the public has noticed. The largest influence the church has had in recent government legislation is
abortion. Protestant backed politicians constantly hamper its passage based on religious grounds, not constitutional. The constant hampering of the public opinion by religiously inclined politicians has angered the general public, and they want change.
Part 2
The government of the United States of America is in an internal gridlock. With the current government divided along party and ideological lines, reaching a consensus about the problem of church vs. state seems like a lofty goal. However, steps have been made to try to create a large separation in the conflict. The U.S. Supreme Court
Locke vs Davey in 2004 concluded that a state could not be required to extend scholarship money towards students becoming members of clergy. This case concluded two following points. One is that the federal government cannot mandate states to follow church vs state, as a state could still provide money for those students, but that also the federal government does support church vs. state. Another case which made an appearance in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was
Elk Grove Unified School District vs. Newdow, in which the they concluded because the pledge of allegiance contained “under god” (which was an addition in the 1900’s to go against communism), it violated the First Amendment Right guaranteed by the Constitution and therefore was illegal because it validated only one religion. Another example would be
Lee vs. Weisman in 1992. The US Supreme Court ruled that it was against the Constitution for a prayer to be placed during a public event, this one being a school graduation. Even the tax exemption of politically motivated churches, as in the case of the
C Street Center has been called into question. While the government of the United States remains divided on the subject of church vs. state, the government has been stepping it up when it comes to protecting the First Amendment Right of its citizens.
For this project, I did my community service at my church, Creekside Community. My work wasn’t overtly religious, none of it had much to do with the promotion of religion, but instead I helped to provide a service to the community. And that’s what the churches image should be, a service. In our study this year, we learned that the government can only provide so much to its citizens, as we have seen with the
health care crisis which recently reached a conclusion and the financial collapse of 2009, and this is where things like a church fill the gap. When used properly, a church is a powerful tool in the community, and with the laws in place by our Constitution, they are allowed to flourish relatively burden free. It is when a church turns into a major political force is when we run into a problem. For the most part, many of these churches do not act as extreme political motivators. Having sat threw many sermons; politics is rarely, if ever, brought up, the recent event being
Prop 8 in California being the notable exception. For many of these churches, politics is a place to stay out of. In the Bible, it “And Jesus answering said to them, Render to Caesar what is Caesers, and to God what is Gods.”(Matthew 12:17). While this is referencing taxes, the point is simple, as it legitimatizes human government from the Christianity standpoint. It acknowledges that there is a separation between the two, and while God is the higher authority, you still must follow the laws of the land. Politics are only a small part of the Bible, with the verse in Matthew being the only mentioning of it directly, while service of others in mentioned innumerably in the Bible, which is what my community service boiled down to.
Part 3
The problem of church vs. state is something that can not be eliminated. With the very foundations of many of the worlds governmental bodies based on religious principle, there is no hope for immediate change. However, we can alleviate this problem, or at least lessen the issue, in a number of ways. One would be the support of pro-separation bills. For example, in
Arizona, a bill is in effect to place the Ten Commandments on the capital building. This very act violates the First Amendment, and the continuation of this bill would jeopardize that freedom it protects. Another example would be the conflict of
gay marriage in California. The voters trying to repeal the gay marriage ban seemingly lost the fight, yet this battle has deep religious ties. Marriage has a deep meaning in religion, and while it is the voter’s right to believe that gay marriage is wrong, the major supporters for the ban are religious establishments, further evidence of church involvement. Personally, I think gay marriage should be allowed to happen, and I am a Christian. My reasoning however is not religious, but comes from the view that we are alienating someone if we impose this law, and if we look at it purely in the context of our constitution, it should be allowed. Another way to mitigate the conflict of church vs. state is to vote. The only way to prevent religion interfering often with the United States political system is to vote for those who will not bring those views with them. In a perfect world, the senators and representatives would vote without bias, but that world doesn’t exist. Religious prejudice when voting is ever present and it can be seen from laws ranging from health care to taxes. Educated voting is key to removing this problem from our government.
My community service presented me with a great opportunity to contribute to my community. With my church having a large part of its doctrine dedicated to the mission of service, it was easy to integrate myself into tasks suitable for what I was trying to accomplish, which was non religious work. Being able to see for the first time the power that the church can have in a community made me completely understand why it is such a major force in American politics. It also made me put into perspective the church vs. state conflict. With religion being such a huge force in the daily lives of people around the world, it’s understandable for them to seek more power. Sometimes it’s purely genuine, as the church truly wants to help people, but as we learn more and more, we become aware that this is not always the case. Sometimes it is purely as a way to overstep the law, as is being revealed in the Catholic sex abuse scandal. Can the pope be prosecuted under international law for documents that imply his role in the cover up of the scandals, or are the Catholic churches power to much? Is in fact the pope the head of state? Its problems like these that we will continue to see in the future for the church vs. state conflict, and as we become a more global world, the problem will have to be addressed. But in the meantime, steps can be taken to alleviate the burden of the issue, and at the same time reconcile the problems
Citations
"ABC News Washington Post Poll." ABC News/ Washington Post. ABC News, 23 May 2004. Web. 10 Apr.2010.
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"Religions of the World: Numbers of Adherents; Growth Rates." ReligiousTolerance.org by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Web. 13 Apr. 2010. .
