It is unfortunate there was little comment on the question of churchstate. When religion steps into the political arena it is and should be subject to critical review. Belief is no exemption from social responsibility. Example: a religion practiced today began calling for extermination of Catholic clergy, hatred of Jews, and slaughter of common folk daring to rise in opposition to the state. Unless I’m wrong, none of those are an active part of modern-day Lutheranism. If members of the Lutheran faithful began hunting priests, Jews, or unruly peasants we would not hesitate to rise in critical opposition as would contemporary Lutherans able to draw the line between personal faith and social/ political action.
In a civil/secular society individual right to believe is protected but content of a belief and action rising from it is definitely open to challenge. If a sect’s god required skinning live cats, a civil society should say no. Religious belief does not cancel accountability or reduce responsibility for behavior. Unless we want religious rule to replace civil law we must maintain the line of freedoms that define the border between church and state.
Some groups clearly see this in a different way. Example: Saudi Arabia and Turkey spend heavily to build mosques in the US. Ask; is that church or state activity? Ask; would it ever occur to us to begin a program of overseas church building? We might fund schools or hospitals but not churches, not to mention the Saudis would be outraged at the suggestion for Arabia where Bible ownership is criminal. When the wall between church and state is removed a religious tyranny rules. That’s the difference between civil and theocratic societies.
Another issue for us is religious dress in secular society. Groups such as Amish dress according to religious code and are free to do so, but so doing separates them into a selfsegregated class. This is a problem for a society opposed to segregation and unwilling to accept religious segregation as the norm. We do not. When I go to a public office or use services open to the public I won’t accept a sectarian display or its accommodation.
Harry Drabik
Hovland
Leave a Reply