So, here we are, having seemingly completed some cosmic cycle. Again, we’re addressing the issue religion in not just society, but in our schools and as a part of our politics. The political Far Right (aka "Christian Right" or "Christian Fundamentalists") routinely call for voting their faith, provided that faith is Christian of course. After all, they argue, America was founded as a Christian nation while others are permitted to practice their faiths out of Christian kindness.
The Left, however, have a very different opinion. They argue
that religion---any religion---does not belong in the public domain, especially
our school system and in particular politics. Schools should be secular. If a
parents wants their child to have religion inserted in their education, there’s
plenty of private and religious based schools available.
As for politics, candidates
should be chosen not on their faith, but on their actions as it pertains to the
overall public good. Religion in politics runs the risk of creating a fascist theocracy
little different from Iran’s. After all,
doesn’t the Constitution call for a separation of church and state? Besides, if
the Founding Fathers want a national religion, wouldn’t they have made it
official?
Well, to address the first things first, no, the
Constitution doesn’t call for a separation of church and state. That’s a
misconception. The separation between church and state, while never
specifically stated in the Constitution, is implied according to a Supreme
Court ruling in 1868.
In 1947, the Supreme Court again addressed the issue when
Justice Hugo Black wrote on behalf of the court in the matter of Everson vs
Board of Education of the Township of Ewing (330 U.S. 1:1947), “Neither a
state or the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can it pass laws
which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another…In
the words of Thomas Jefferson, the clause against the establishment of religion
by law was intended to erect a ‘wall of separation between Church and State”.
While many of the Founding Fathers where “Christian” in the broad
understanding of the term, their personal religious beliefs differed from
person to person, and indeed, varied greatly over their lifetime. However, the
main reason was that the monarchies of Europe tended to have a formal church
which, while not necessarily adhered to, must still be financial supported.
England had the
Church of England (Anglian Church). France, Poland, and Italy had the Catholic Church as did the
Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bavaria in Germany while most of Northern Europe had
Lutheranism. Czarist Russia was Orthodox as was much of Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
Everyone, whether a member or the official church or not,
was required to pay homage since, after all, the ruling monarch was the head of
the church and/or ordained by “God” under the concept of “Divine Right” or “God’s
mandation” to rule.
The Founding Fathers wanted to make their new experiment in
democracy a nation open to all faiths. This meant that citizens weren’t
required to acknowledge any religion but theirs. It meant that under the law,
all religious persuasions were equal. It didn’t forbid, for instance, religious
symbols in public property. It simply meant that all religions beliefs had the same
access to public property. It meant too that no particular religious dogma held
priority over any other.
There have been many instances throughout our history where
there was a serious concern that one or another religious sect was going to try
and assert dominance over the government. For instance, the Puritans and
Pilgrims, who settled in the 1600’s, intended on establishing a religious
community along their particular interpretations of the bible including that of
premillennialism. William Penn acquired
large tracts of land in what’s now Pennsylvania for groups like the Quakers and
Mennonites to practice their faith unimpeded.
There was the First Great Awakening of the swept through the
colonies in the 1730’s and 1740’s. It
was an early forerunner of today’s fundamentalists. The Second Great Awakening (approx.
1790 – 1840), which began in Kentucky and Tennessee, expanded the concept of “revivalism”.
A Third Great Awakening, running from around 1855 to 1930,
fueled the belief in a postmillennial or pretribulation world and an imminent “Second
Coming”. This was a new intensity in revivalism known as “Social Gospel” which
applied biblical interpretation of societal issues such as poverty,
establishing orphanages, education, ending slavery, prohibition, and to so
forth.
Individuals like Martin
Luther King Jr., Billy Graham, Pope John Paul II, the emergence “megachurches”
and televangelists like Jerry Farwell and Pat Robertson are seen as early
leaders of what some call a “Fourth Great Awakening”.
President Ronald Reagan is credited with firmly aligning Christian
fundamentalism within the Republican Party which incorporates a conservative social
conformity by merging issues like pro-Life, prayer in school, home schooling,
patriotism or opposition teaching a LGBQT/transgender/gay agenda in school and what they identify as "socialism" into
political action and ultimately legislation.
President Trump’s election has rekindled the fervor in the fundamentalist
movement which had faded under Clinton, Obama, and Biden, which brings us to
the question about what Americans in general think about mixing religion and politics.
Do the two belong in the same pew?
According to a March 19, 2024 Pew Poll, 80% of Americans
said that organized religion was losing its influence on society. 82% of
Protestants and Catholics agreed as did
76% of Black Protestants and 74% of Hispanic Protestants. Also in agreement were
76% of Jews who were polled.
Politically, 84% of registered Republicans and those who
identified as conservative said that religion’s influence was in decline.
Democrats and liberals weren’t far behind with 78% agreeing that organized
religion was in decline. In looking at age groups, those 18 to 60+ years of age
were all in agreement with an average of 81%.
When addressing politics and public education, 49% of adults
in general didn’t think any religious group was trying to impose their
religious beliefs on society. This opinion was held by 65% of Protestants and
peaked with 79% of white evangelicals and 71% of Hispanic Protestants. 39% of
Black Protestants disagreed.
Among Catholics, 54% also thought no particular religious
group was trying to impose their faith on them. However, 76% of Jews disagreed
as did 72% of the religiously unaffiliated. 85% of agnostics also said
religious groups were trying to impose their beliefs on them.
When we turn to politics again, 75% of Republicans and those
leaning conservative thought that other conservative Christians weren’t trying
to influence them. But 72% of Democrats and those who are liberal leaning said conservative
Christians were trying to impose their beliefs on them.
So, where does that leave us? In a 2022 poll by Pew, 73% of
Americans said they wanted to keep religion away from politics. However, while
the Constitution prohibits using religion as a criteria to run for or hold
public office, there is nothing to prevent voters from using their own
religious standards in determining who to vote for or what issues to support.
Therefore, our political landscape could very well be
determined based not on one’s personal religion (or lack thereof) but on that
of the voters. The more religiously conservative voters who show up at the
polls the more like minded individuals will likely get elected.
For some, that idea is nothing short of terror, while for
others its couldn’t come soon enough. The notion itself represents just one of
the many growing divides facing America. The question is whether, in this no-compromise
environment, can a compromise be reached before it’s too late?
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What is Separation of Church and State?
BRIA 13 4 a separating Church and State
Justia: Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
Americans Have Positive Views About Religions Role inSociety But Want It Out of Politics
