The Separation of Church and State Pt 2 (why it's good we're not a Christian nation)

Now many Christians see the "Separation of Church and State" as an attack on Christianity itself. And there have been a great many crusades to "take our country back," "get God back in our schools," etc. The wording is different, but the sentiment is the same. "This is a Christian nation. If we don't run it as a Christian nation, then God will leave us and go somewhere else."

I want to talk for a minute about why the separation of church and state is not an attack on Christianity (or any religion), but rather a safeguard FOR Christianity.


One of my favorite things to do when thinking about politics is to think about what things would be like if "the shoe were on the other foot." For Christianity, I take this to mean, "What would the country look like if Christianity were not the majority."

With the separation of church and state, it wouldn't look much different.

Without the separation of church and state, it would be dire news for many religions.

Let's think this through. Many Christians think the world would be a better place if the 10 commandments were displayed in government buildings. If the book of Genesis were taught in science classrooms. If Children were lead in prayer in school. If the bible were followed in lawmaking (leading to the outlawing of gay marriage, for example.)

But, if this were the norm - if the majority religion were able to make laws and educate our children in their religion in public schools - then what would happen if a different religion became the majority?

How would you feel if writings of the Qur'an were posted in public buildings? What if laws of the Qur'an were public laws. What if women, by law, had to wear burkas covering from head to toe? What if women couldn't leave the house without a male relative?

Or what if it wasn't Islam? What if Jewish orthodox law prevailed? What if we couldn't work on the Sabbath? Or we couldn't eat food that wasn't kosher?


As you're reading some of these randomly chosen examples, you're probably thinking, "Well, that's not American. We're free! I like being able to wear what I want, do what I want, eat what I want. I like that women are treated as equals in my country." Etc., etc., etc.

This is why we need to preserve the separation of church and state. Because it protects ALL of our freedom. It protects the Christian's freedom as well as the Muslim's or the Jew's or the Buddhist's or the atheist's.

My point is that you wouldn't like having your religious freedom taken away. You wouldn't like being forced to practice someone else's religion. So, why do you think it's right to do that to someone else?


So, hopefully you get my point about why religious freedom is valuable to our society. Stay tuned for my next post on how this should affect how we treat other people.