Separation of Church and State

The separation of Church and State is an important part of United States government. It was established to protect the religious freedom which the founders of our nation so longed for after coming from a place where the government enforced one religion on everyone. Many Christians don’t like the separation of Church and State, but without it, we may never have been given the opportunity to worship God the way we do today. It is important to appreciate the separation as it is and not try to change it. Because Christians have not accepted such a separation and tried to bridge the gap, there have been some devastating effects. After attempts to make the State abide by Church doctrine failed, Christians seem to have confused the boundary between Church and State, creating the biggest of these—the canonizing of the Constitution and conservative ideologies. Some Christians even find Scriptures, such as Ecclesiastes 10:2 and Matthew 25:31-46, to “support” this, but that is not what those Scriptures were intended to mean. Republicans are not the equivalent of Christians and democrats are not the equivalent of sinners. Political affiliation does not affect one’s salvation. Also, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are not the equivalent of the Bible. So much time is spent arguing the second amendment and complaining about the government that Christians completely forget the whole point of being here, which is to tell everyone about Jesus. People don’t see true Christianity in this and it turns them away. In case saying this isn’t enough, I can provide some biblical evidence to support my argument. Much of this is discussed in my earlier post, “Authority.” I won’t repeat anything already said in that post, so go check it out if you haven’t read it yet. First, let’s address the second amendment—the right to bear arms. What is so important about this right? Nothing. You can remember when Jesus was arrested, one of Jesus’ companions (some accounts specifically identify this as Peter) draws a sword and cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest. However, Jesus was not pleased with this and said, “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). I don’t think Jesus would support the use of any type of weapons to defend our own lives or even His own life. There’s nothing wrong with owning guns, but this isn’t where our focus should lie. Another thing I see is Christians discriminating against and stereotyping Muslims. Not all Muslims are violent terrorists. The Qur’an mentions jihad only a few times, but talks about peace much more. In fact, Christians shouldn’t be too harsh toward jihad because the crusades were Christian wars which had the same purpose as jihad. In using a common second amendment argument, a Christian government would not stop the terrorists from killing people; it would only affect the law-abiding Muslims in a way that Christians would not want to be treated. I’m not going to quote it, but this breaks the Golden Rule. Also, we often focus on the Muslims who murder Christians, completely forgetting the victims. The victims deserve to be remembered for their sacrifice, for not abandoning God when many people would. Many Christians also seem to idolize the United States and believe it is infallible. However, not one government has lasted forever. The Roman Empire probably had the best chance of doing so, but as we all know, it failed. One of the primary causes of this is the rise of Christianity. Christianity created divisions within the government and caused many social issues as well. This sounds like an awful lot like the United States, which should be protected from this by the separation of Church and State. The only reason that this protective measure is not effectively working is because Christians are focusing in the wrong place. We need to quit worrying about the focus of our government and the Constitution which man put in place, and focus on God and spreading the Gospel to others.

“Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” Proverbs 4:25-27