Local fire ordinances have curtailed much of the pyrotechnical displays I remember from my childhood, but we will still find ways to celebrate the 4th of July. No doubt, you will, too.
Independence Day will also be celebrated in churches where pastors will provide thought-provoking sermons for church members to consider. The challenge facing them — and us — is the degree to which the church and state can or should ignore each other.
Jim White, Editor
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How impervious is the wall separating church and state? The question is not a new one. In a book called Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, Developed in the Official and Historical Annals of the Republic, published in 1864, author B.F. Morris cites a decision of the New York legislature in 1838. Members considered a petition calling for the repeal of laws requiring that the Sabbath be observed. By a vote nearly unanimous they rejected the petition on the following grounds:
“With us it is wisely ordered that no one religion shall be established by law, but that all persons shall be left free in their choice and in their mode of worship. Still, this is a Christian nation. Ninety-nine hundredths, if not a larger proportion, of our whole population, believe in the general doctrines of the Christian religion. Our Government depends for its being on the virtue of the people, — on that virtue that has its foundation in the morality of the Christian religion; and that religion is the common and prevailing faith of the people. There are, it is true, exceptions to this belief; but general laws are not made for excepted cases. There are to be found, here and there, the world over, individuals who entertain opinions hostile to the common sense of mankind on subjects of honesty, humanity, and decency; but it would be a kind of republicanism with which we are not acquainted in this country, which would require the great mass of mankind to yield to and be governed by this few. It is quite unnecessary to enter into a detailed review of all the evidences that Christianity is the common creed of this nation. We know it, and we feel, it as we know and feel any other unquestioned and admitted truth; the evidence is all around us, and before us, and with us. We know, too, that the exceptions to this general belief are rare, — so very rare that they are sufficient only, like other exceptions, to prove a general rule.”
Since a subsequent legislature reconsidered and amended their decision that the Sabbath continue to be observed, it was obviously not made for all time.
In our own era, we still struggle to answer for both church and state just how separate the wall of separation should make us. Some, following the logic of the citation above, maintain that since the majority of U.S. citizens are Christians (though nowhere near the 99 percent asserted in 1838), the country is de facto a “Christian nation” and the beliefs of the majority should determine public policy — like prayer in public schools. They believe, like the New York legislature of old, that the alternative “would be a kind of republicanism with which we are not acquainted in this country, which would require the great mass of mankind to yield to and be governed by this few.”
But others, possessing equal spiritual and patriotic zeal, reach a differing conclusion. It is their conviction that it is in the best interest of neither church nor state for the majority to force a religious perspective and practice on the minority. Baptists experienced the humiliation of minority status for so long that we have been particularly sensitive to the rights of the few.
What is my opinion? Well, since you asked, I believe for two significant reasons we cannot ignore the religious diversity of 21st century America. Christians who hold to the “Christian nation” notion must ask themselves what their opinion will be if Christians become the minority. What if another religion becomes the majority? Will they still believe that the religious practices of the majority should become common for all? If not, it is hypocritical to assert it should be so only when Christians are in the majority.
Secondly, it seems to me that forcing Christian prayer or practices on unbelievers violates the tenants of Christ’s teachings. It is difficult for someone who is being forced to endure a practice he does not believe in to feel the love of Jesus in us. Can one truly be poor in spirit, meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful and peacemaking and also insist that his own religious preferences be pressed on everyone else?
Still, except for the most aggressive atheist, does anyone want to live in an America devoid of religious influence? I think not. When push comes to shove; when we reach the limits of our control, on a December 7, or a September 11, even strict constitutionalists invoke the comfort of Scripture. While the constitution was being endlessly debated; when petty local interests had stymied progress, Benjamin Franklin stood on June 28, 1787, to offer a resolution:
“Mr. President …. I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘Except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel …. I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.”
A wall may separate church from state, but there are gates in the wall allowing one to pass unmolested to the other when assistance is needed. And each should feel complete freedom to acknowledge the presence and value of the other. Still, the two are parallel entities only temporarily. One day there will be no more wall; and the church and the Kingdom of Christ will be one.