Church Vs State

Religion and biblical law cannot be separated from life in general and politics in particular. Politics has to do with civil government. Politicians get elected, make laws, tax, spend, regulate, and control. Every law passed and every spending decision is based on some moral system. This is where the Bible comes in. All morality is based on a religion. The Bible says, “Thou shalt not steal.” Right there is the common and basic law against theft. What we believe religiously will affect our political beliefs and practices. If we as Americans could only follow the basic standards set for us in the Bible and follow the values, the standard would be balanced. Yet, when religion or morality becomes separated from decision making, convenience becomes the standard. We are then left with two options: either God’s word serves as the State’s standard of the state decides upon its own standard. America has not

"Prayer has been banished from schools and the ACLU rampages to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Moreover, “Separation of Church and State” is nowhere found in the Constitution or any other founding legislation. Our forefathers would never countenance the restrictions on religion exacted today." -- Bill Flax, Forbes, 2011

In today’s society, the separation of church and state is a fundamentally important aspect of our government. Most any citizen would agree that the government should operate based on the law and the constitution, not on the individual 's religious beliefs, yet when the issue is Abortion, that stance is flipped. The debate over abortion rages on despite the supreme court giving women the right to abortion in 1973 with the ruling of Roe v Wade. Looking at both sides objectively, the pro-choice arguments lineup with facts, while the pro-life arguments are either supported by facts yet purposefully misinterpreted, or simply not factual at all. State governments pass laws that regulate abortions and abortion centers all in the attempt to close these centers down and stop women from getting abortions at all, including situations of rape or incest. Just as the government in Brave New World controls the bodies of women by keeping them on contraceptives and controlling their bodily functions through medication, the American government seeks the same control over what women do and don’t do with their body by denying them abortions and birth control.

Most people believe that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. After all, our money is emblazoned with “In God We Trust,” our Pledge of Allegiance declares that we are “one nation under God,” and in court we swear to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” It’s true that the Founders were heavily influenced by Christian ideals. And while the U.S. Constitution prohibits any religious test or requirement for public office, the majority of U.S. presidents have been openly Christian. Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, two of our most famous presidents, however had no formal religious affiliations. Jefferson shunned orthodox Christianity at an early age and cut and pasted together a condensed version of the New Testament, removing most miracles and all references to Jesus’s divinity. He did, however, continue to believe in God as a precise, impersonal creator of the universe and its laws. Lincoln, on the other hand, spoke frequently of God during his presidency but never formally joined a church. Today, academics remain uncertain about whether or not he was a Christian as some aspects of his faith remain a mystery.

“We have a moral responsibility to disobey any law that conflicts with the law of god.” (Paragraph 16)

Our society lacks a moral compass today and we need to find a way to return to our country 's founding values. Is religion the answer? some may think so others may say keep church and state separate. The original statement was in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists Association. In his letter he says “American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church & State” (Jefferson 1802). After this letter was written it went unnoticed or used until the mid 1800’s when a group petitioned Congress to remove Christian principles and values from government. They claimed that there needed to be a “separation of church and state”. Again it was unused officially until 1947 when in the case of Everson verses the board of education the court wanted to build the wall high and impregnable. That wall was never supposed to be as it is now referred to. We need to have the religious freedoms free from government control. How can a private petition be taken out of text and used as a guide for our federal court? Our forefathers were influenced by important values when establishing this country. Also, there were a lot of other influences in our founders thought processes; own life experiences, education, and even self gratification. Just reading The Declaration of Independence you can see where their

In today’s society, the separation of church and state is a fundamentally important aspect of our government. Most any citizen would agree that the government should operate based on the law and the constitution, not on the individual 's religious beliefs, yet when the issue is Abortion, that stance is flipped. The debate over abortion rages on despite the supreme court giving women the right to abortion in 1973 with the ruling of Roe v Wade. Looking at both sides objectively, the pro-choice arguments line up with facts, while the pro-life arguments are supported by facts yet purposefully misinterpreted, or simply not factual at all. State governments pass laws that regulate abortions and abortion centers all in the attempt to

History shows a pattern of change in relation to religious involvement of governmental affairs. As religion becomes less a part of American life, the court develops new laws to accommodate our new society. Look to the communities we live in presently and ask yourself if the American people are facing oppression of religious freedom, a freedom listed in our Constitution under the First Amendment. This spirals into an abyss of politics. Is same-sex marriage a personal matter or a public one? Is the Republican Party fair in opting to end abortion? Should a woman have contraceptive included in her health insurance plan despite the religious views of her employer? This is one of the areas in which

In politics, today, religion overlaps politics in many aspects. Considering that religion has become more open and in America, supposedly separated from church and state, one would be lead to believe that the progression has separated them entirely, at least in the United States. However, looking back at the Renaissance, one can only make the argument that religion has become less influential, but is still predominate. Such as in political factions, where people tend to agree with like-minded individuals creating parties.

Thomas Jefferson fought for separation of church and state, in Virginia. Jefferson fought so strongly for this because under British anarchy, they were persecuted for their religion. This document brought conflict with Jefferson and the Anglican Church, as the Anglican Church believed that Church and State should be one. The idea of Freedom of Religion carries into our government. President’s can swear in with a Bible during oath, though the book may differ on religion. The separation between church and state was one of the most important policies in the United States Constitution and was inputted in the first amendment. In the 1st Aamendment it states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. The Virginia Statute For Religious Freedom has ensured Americans’ freedom to express whichever religion they choose, and it is a main part of why The United States of America is so

“Under God” is also part of our countries Plege of Allegence, not to mention all the times you will see “God” on all the buildings, monuments, memorials thought out Washington. With that said, it is hard to propose that religious beliefs don 't influence political decisions. The First Amendment states clearly that no religion shall be established by any branch of the United States Govement- keeping the Church and State separated (Madison, 1789). But at the same time, promises freedom of religion. Confusing? Yes. It shouldn’t be.

Separation of church and state was a big issue in the beginning of Christianity, mostly because it didn't exist. God supposedly chose the emperor Constantine and in turn Constantine chose Christianity as the empire's official religion. The union of church and state may not have been as great a problem if freedom of speech had also existed. It seems weird to imagine a right that I have taken for granted all of my life not to be present. Pagans experience a loss of political rights and status. Anti-pagan and anti-Semitic preaching rallied everyone against the "outsiders." Those, such as the popes, that enjoyed high ranks in Christianity now enjoyed high ranks in the government. Those, such as the emperor, that enjoyed high ranks in the government now enjoyed high ranks in Christianity. The line

Roy L. Aldrich from his article, “Causes for Confusion of Law and Grace,” points out, “One of the principal causes of misunderstanding about law and grace is the failure to define terms.” He then delineates some different meanings of law in the New Testament, e.g. the Mosaic Law (Matt 22:37–40); The Law of Christ (Gal 6:2; Jas 1:25; 2:12); Law as Principle (Rom 3:27; 8:2) and The Pentateuch (Luke 24:44). He goes on to point out that there is contrasting difference between the Mosaic Law and the moral law. The Mosaic Law was filled with, “ceremonial law, civil law, criminal law, sanitary law, governmental law. But the moral law existed before Moses, and continues after the Cross.” Did Jesus bind modern day Christians to these different attributes of the Mosaic Law only or moral law only or both? Paul R. Schmidtbleicher distinguishes between two different thoughts on this. Westminster

"The notion that religion and political authority, church and state, are different and that they can or should be separated is, in a profound sense, Christian. Its origins may be traced to the teachings of Christ, notably in the famous passage in Matthew 22:21, in which Christ is quoted as saying: ‘Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are

There has been much debate on whether or not the United States has been doing the right thing by keeping church and state as separate entities rather than keeping them entwined as had been the standard for centuries prior to the country’s founding. The list of influences this law could affect is substantial, ranging from the workplace to school functions. Even the way people decorate their offices and houses has come into question from time to time. However, remarkably, every person has a different style of argument and a different way of looking at the available facts. I intend to compare two very different argument styles on both sides of this issue, and how two capable writers use completely different methods of research,