Church & State - Separate & Unequal??by Bill Lussenheide Candidate US Congress CA-45 http://www.FaithFamilyFreedoms.blogspot.com
Should people who are Christians be involved in politics? I have received emails from people who believe that politics and religion should never be mixed. A common statement that is retorted endlessly is "Separation of Church and State".
I agree that separation of church and state is a very wise thing. Our founding fathers specifically spelled out in the 1st Amendment that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". So indeed, it is self evident that the government has no role in creating a "state church" or in being a theocracy.
Here is an assumed and misplaced thought, that there is an automatic separation of of Religious Faith and state. If you look at the 1st Amendment again, you will see that it is quite specific in its definition... it restricts the government, not religion. Nowhere do you find restriction on the ability of churches or preachers from criticizing the government on the basis of Christian morality. Society can take it or leave it, but they certainly do not have the legal right to shut it up.
We live in an era where the voice of faith, is diminished, ridiculed, attacked and told it has no place in the marketplace of ideas, either in education or government. Why should the influence of governmental policy only be guided by the godless? Our founding fathers would be aghast!
There is no evidence to imply that the founding fathers ever intended to deny the "voice of faith" influence in the public square of ideas. To think differently would show one's ignorance of history and a mountain of written evidence contrary to that conclusion. The Constitution is clear, that the "separation of church and state" had the intent of only being a one way street... to keep government out of the business and practice of churches.
Our heritage is replete with examples of faith and government. Whether it has been the practice of opening prayers from the very beginning of our nation to the present of both the Senate and Congress, the depiction of the 10 Commandments on buildings in Washington DC, or in more recent times , long public prayers by Franklin Roosevelt on D-day , or Dwight Eisenhower at the beginning of his inauguration speech in 1952.
How have we come to be a nation without a moral compass?... it is because too many preachers and too many people of faith now fear to exercise their Constitutional right to be a part of the public marketplace of ideas. Political correctness has attempted to banish our heritage of faith to the closet. When freedom of religion and its ability to be heard is oppressed and diminished, realize that tyranny is never very far behind.
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