An Opinion on the Separation of Church and State
By Andi Cunningham | Observer Contributor
Religion in the United States is a hot-button issue. Christianity has 230-250 million members or 65%-75% of the US population. Often, other religions are looked down upon by the Conservative right. Say the word Satanist or Islam within this circile, and all hell breaks loose.
With that said, The United States of America is a pluralistic nation in its forming. Originally founded for its religious freedom, it has been confused that the United States is a Christian nation, founded on Christian principles.
Christian fundamentalist Jill Rodriguez, is striving to become as famous as the Duggars and other Christian “royalty.” She has been “preaching” that the good ol’ U.S. of A was founded on Christ. I grew up in school and learned that the Constitution is a flexible document in design. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The First Amendment–How did we stray so far away from this? When did we become a “Christian” Nation?
As we all know the pilgrims came to the United States in search of religious freedom from King James, ironically the commissioner of The King James Bible. Aboard the Mayflower, which traveled here in 1620, were Puritans wanting to separate themselves from the Church of England. The puritan colonies eventually died out from lack of breeding according to Thomas Fuller’s “Church History.” Literally, they didn’t believe in sex, so no future generations were produced–weird right?
When our nation’s Founding Fathers broke off and started forming the constitution, they ensured it could be a nation of absolute freedom, so people can choose to practice any religion they want. Many of the colonies were founded because of religious freedom–with many of the Founding Fathers practicing different religions. The very idea of the Constitution addressing the concept of the separation of church and state came from Roger Williams; he was a baptist and founded Rhode Island.
Many of the founding fathers also renounced religion and followed the practice of Deism. According to the Los Angels Times, “early presidents and patriots were generally deists or Unitarians, believing in some form of impersonal Providence but rejecting the divinity of Jesus and the relevance of the Bible.”
Cut to the mid-twentieth century and the Moral Majority, an organization founded by Jerry Falwell Sr.. Many people will know this name from watching TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, or from Liberty University. According to Joseph Tamney and Steven Johnson’s “Explaining Support for the Moral Majority” a Sociological Forum, this prominent political group helped fuse the American far right with the Republican Party. Tamney and Johnson discuss how the group was key in the elections of Republican presidents in the 80s. The pair adds that Jerry Falwell helped fuse the idea that all Christians are conservative and need to vote Republican, which in turn, helped promote the idea amongst republicans that America is Christian.
Now Satanism. The Satanic Temple in Salem Massachusetts has made it their mission to spread equality amongst religions here in the United States. They have been known to do this by “trolling” organized religion.
In the 2019 documentary “Hail Satan” they explain that if Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church can protest, why can’t Satanist? This was very intriguing to me. In Arkansas, the state capitol put the ten commandments out in front of the capitol building. What if I am a Muslim? What if I am a Buddhist? Are you also going to put the words of Allah or Buddha out in front as well? This is a classic misuse of the First Amendment. An Amendment literally stating “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
The Governor of Arkansas swears that he will protect the laws of the US constitution, and yet they allow this breach of the first amendment to happen. The practice of excluding religions outside of Christianity is not exclusive to Arkansas and has happened in many states, cities, and counties. For example, I grew up in Redlands, California and the city seal has a Christian cross in it. The city was sued and asked to remove it. This is a valid claim. Many on the city council argued that it should stay because of the city’s legacy. The city has a rich history of beautiful churches of every religion and the cross stayed until the seal was changed in 2010. The change finally occurred on the grounds that it could not separate church and state properly.
I love seeing people claim they are “true Americans” and say we are a Christian nation. Throughout our founding, we have seen we are not. After doing research while writing this op-ed I am quickly realizing I know very little about the Constitution, which is the most first-world problem ever. According to the National Archives, the First Amendment “prevents the government from creating or favoring a religion.” This begs the question, how can a civil servant, specifically someone in congress, the presidency, or the judicial branch, under good conscience have a religion?
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