GUEST COLUMN: A JEWISH VIEW OF THE WISDOM OF CHURCH-STATE SEPARATION

I thank Dr. Kelly for allowing someone from a Jewish perspective to communicate on the issue of Church-State separation.  I write as an outsider but one with an interest because I love the fact that America is the most religious country in the Western world.  And we owe our religious fervor all to the separation of Church and State that is implied in the First Amendment.

I know that the First Amendment does not specifically use the words “Separation of Church and State.” Yet, it does not specifically say anything about religious freedom either. Both doctrines are implied directly by the wording of the First Amendment. And both led to the most religious society today than we had even in the Colonial Period.  The Principle of Religious Freedom when applied to all of society allowed for more religious devotion since it was freely chosen and not compelled.

The First Amendment means what it says when it says “Congress shall make no law” respecting the Establishment of Religion.  If the First Amendment serves as a model for state constitutions, then states should make no law respecting religion either.  The Founders had no power over state governments of their time, hence the confusion among some, but the example of toleration was set for later state constitutions to follow.  When the idea of religious freedom spread, various Great Awakening movements happened that exercised tremendous moral power over society.  Belief in God did not die out but flourished.

If we return to when States could have their own churches, we also return to when states banned guns to certain groups or banned poor people from voting.  Whether or not one believes in the Fourteenth Amendment “Incorporation Doctrine,” the fact is that religious freedom has been the best thing for honest worship of God.  We are more religious now than we were at our founding.  That is because churches made the effort. Nations with state churches are dead spiritually. Our having no establishment of religion means that men and women of faith have had to do the hard work of spreading religious truth by persuading others.  Marrying Faith to the Sword would have made them spiritually lazy and corrupt.  

Jefferson and Madison were key architects of our religious freedom.  Yet there were differences in reasoning between them. Jefferson was enamored of Enlightenment thinking, with its complexities and contradictions.  Madison also believed in religious freedom and Enlightenment thinking but saw in Church-State separation the protection of honest religion above all. Madison got what almost everyone misses, that political power corrupts religion itself.  He was more sophisticated than other Enlightenment thinkers who often attacked religion and for those I respect him.

Madison came close to the real danger of Church-State Unity when he saw the moral corruption of state churches.  It is not the secular state that loses. It is the Church that loses when married to Power like Christian Nationalists desire.  The Church will end up controlled by the State.  The most powerful and most corrupt win out in situations of power.  And this would neither be Godly nor patriotic.

What is confusing is that “State” does not necessarily mean the government. The “State” means the entire repressive apparatus of society.  The State includes all aspects of sociology, including the prejudices of the people themselves.  And states are universally controlled by the rich and powerful who do not want prophetic witness on behalf of the oppressed.  So-called “Christian Nationalism” would have silenced Garrison, King, Debs and those who spoke truth to power.  Our nation would be spiritually poorer if that had happened.

Divorcing religion from the state protects the dominant religion most of all.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We are not simply talking about religious minorities.

Religious freedom preserves the dominant religion from the corruption that goes with power and allows it to keep focused on God.  It allows the Confessional Church to remain uncorrupted. Power was always a temptation and keeping that temptation at bay allowed piety to reign above corruption.

When religious persecution comes to America, it will come in the name of Freedom and Democracy, just as the incarceration of the Japanese.  This is why banning books from the library is so dangerous.  I agreed when the Supreme Court upheld religious conscience. The same principle protects Toni Morrison.  The mob was the danger Madison foresaw.  We see mob rule on our campuses.  But, we also see it rising among a number of conservatives.

An honest telling of America’s religious history shows us how Progressive and Conservative traditions have both claimed the Bible and Declaration uphold their views.  And an honest course in the schools would not simply be a sounding board for one side or the other but discuss all lines of thought. Having the schools in Oklahoma forcing one view and Harvard forcing another without debate of discussion of ideas can only lead to violence. Both sides will claim the Bible and the Declaration. But neither has the wisdom of Madison.

One last thing.  I have praised Madison, but I honor him best by not worshipping him. The worship of men is dangerous.  “Original Intent” has degenerated into idolatry if it means glorifying a time when only White property owners could vote. It is important to honor Madison best by not worshiping him. An honest Christian patriot loves his country best by not worshiping its past. Madison was a flesh and blood man who is dishonored by making him a god. It is what he would want were he here now.

We honor the Forefathers of our country best by knowing that moral compromises were made. If they could tell us anything it would be to use the freedom they gave us, which today hangs by a thread, to make the right choices in how we test fellow humans and the Earth upon which we stand. We honor them best by using the civic participation they bequeathed to us to build bridges and not fences. And we honor the religious freedom they gave us by worshiping God alone and not society or tradition. 

The bones of dead men are temptations to Pagan worship best put aside as Earth was made for the living.

Respectfully, CH