Religion-Based Government Vs Secular One

In early American history, religion and government played pivotal roles and have continued to even today. However, the size of the roles religion and government have played have fluctuated in relation to each other. Religion had more sway over the government and the people in early American society, however today it has significantly less visible power over the government, it still holds influence over many of the people both as voters and officials, as well as legislation.

The only power the secular government should have are matters of “actions only, & not opinions.” These words echo that of Luther who believed that “... need no ruler ought to prevent anyone from teaching or believing what he pleases, whether Gospel or lies. It is enough if he prevents the teaching of sedition and rebellion (Luther, 22).” Two hundred years later, the influence of Luther’s theology and concept of the separation of Church and state influenced those who founded of the United States of America. This would then lead them to make the separation of Church and state the cornerstone of modern

Despite their argument, I still strongly believe that the government should contain some religion and morality. If someone with vast amounts of power believes that he is the top being of all, he will not think twice about passing a law or act. If the ruler believes that there is someone higher than him, he would think about what that person would want.

Robert Audi argues that citizens in a free democracy should make a difference between religion and between secular aspects or state and give them two separate domains. The one has nothing to do with the other and for each to be functioning well and for the state to be functioning effectively; religious convictions should be separated from political debate.

In the United States, religion and government have been separated from one another for many years. The reason being is that there are so many religions these days, and people would argue about which religion would take political power, ultimately resulting in conflicts and fights. Many centuries ago, each country had only one primary religion which every citizen practiced. In Italy for example, their official religion was Christianity, and having Christian beliefs intertwined in government allowed Italians to follow their religions rules along with the rules the government has as well. While some people may think that having religion and government together would be a good thing, many citizens living in Europe between the 12th and 16th century did not.

God in government has been a very controversial topic. It is controversial because people argue that if god is in government what will happen to the people that don’t believe in a god, but the people that believe in god can say that the government has to have something to overrule them because no one person can have all of the power. Case laws have proven that people have used their religion to prove their point by saying “in my religion it lets me drink alcohol at a young age so their for I did nothing wrong I was just practicing my religion (Founding Fathers, 2011)”.

To some extent it could be argued that the U.S is a less secularized country than Australia. However, with research as evidence it can be argued that the U.S is to the same extent as secularized as Australia. Both countries prohibit the religions from having any influence on the state by having a true separation. With the number of people believing in a religion constantly changing, it is evident that it has become stronger in the public sphere and that there is a strong connection between education and welfare levels of a country and it’s religious outlook.

This is why there will never be a consensus, people think differently and religion influences a person’s life. This being said it is hard for the government to be fully separated from the “church” or in a better way religion. We can see this a lot in politics. It is well known that Republicans are mostly conservatives and that Democrats are mostly Liberals. So religion plays a big part on politics, when it comes to the persuasion of the people. Now some may question how a Nation that does not have a set religion, united, because religion is a form of unity in other countries and

The accomplishments and success of civilizations are closely linked to their religious outlook and the role of religion in their governments and society. Throughout history rulers have used the influence of religions to control their populations and provide the justification for their power. A society with a greater degree of separation between religion and government promotes a superior level of liberty and creativity amongst its people. By the time of the decline of the Roman Empire in the west, however, the world had come full circle to a return to theocratic dictatorship.

“The laws of Nature are the laws of God, whose authority can be superseded by no power on earth”-George Mason 1772(Founding Fathers 2). The presence of God is in every part of America. The Christian religion was brought to American shores by nearly all who immigrated to the United States. The American nation was built on the principles of “one nation under God” and now people want to erase Him from everything. ‘I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all’. By stating allegiance to the flag allegiance is given to country; a country founded on Christian principles and a belief in God. The words “one nation under God”

• Can freedom of religion and secularism coexist? How might they support one another? How might they undermine one another?

The American government. You trust them with your money and you rely on them to protect you when things go south, right? If you know any basic knowledge of the American system of control, then you should know that they aren't all they're cracked up to be. The government is extremely corrupted, filled with power-hungry parasites, sucking up all of your rights and money. The authority uses tons of things to their benefit, like for example, religion.(specifically Christianity) 76.5% of the U.S population are religious, 70.6% of them are some type of Christian, and only 22.8% are unaffiliated to religion. The bureaucracy has many ways of using religion to gain control over society, and most often it’s not cordial, or even close to it.

respect to religion: the right to be free from government-imposed religion and a right to practice

We are not speaking here of the secularist idea that the state should marginalize religion and discourage people from voting their consciences as Christians. We are talking about the idea that church and state are not the same thing and that they have different spheres of activity.

We need to pay close attention to the effects of secularism: confining the role of religion to the private domain of the individual and creating a dichotomy between "religious" and "worldly," between "private" and "public." It denies religion and its mediating institutions any public function and influence in shaping matters of public policy.