Integration of Faith in Government

1421 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role of religion in contemporary society

Throughout history the world has had a constant struggle how much faith is allowed into the public square and the role it plays in government. To some faith and government must be totally separated, to have it partly intertwined with government, and completely integrated with government. Faith plays a part of our lives and in times of crisis it can shape how we response to that crisis. I will look at the three different aspects dealing with this issue and explain which one is the best.
The first theory in regards to faith and politics is that it must be separated from politics. Subscribers of this theory base it on previous case law and pieces of letters and treaties that the US has signed. They believe that the US or any nation should not force people into a religion nor give state support to that religion. The most quote letter is Thomas Jefferson letter to the Baptists of Danbury Connecticut saying that a wall of separation had appeared between church and state (Drachman et al 34). On November 4, 1796, the United States signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship with the Barbary pirates, in Article 11 it states the US was not founded as a Christian religion (Avalon). That article has been used by many non-religious groups to base their views on. Today, there are groups such as the Freedom from Religion, the Humanist Society, and the American Civil Liberties Union have fought any type of religious faith in the public square.
In recent history the Vinson, Warren, Burger, Rehnquist, and Roberts Courts have handed down several decision that have limited religion in the public square. Those courts have had a landmark case regarding faith, Vinson had Everson, Warren had Engel and Abington, Burger had Lemon, Rehnquist had Santa Fé,...

... middle of paper ...

...lan Shank. You Decide! Controversial Cases in American Politics. Lanham Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2008.
Farnsley II, Arthur E. "Faith-based Politics."
Orkent, Daniel. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. Last Laugh, Inc., 2010.
Rosenberg, Joel. Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic and Spiritual Challenges in Time?. Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publisher, 2012.
Rudd, Kevin. "Faith in politics." The Monthly 17 (2006): 22-30
Schaeffer, Francis. How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2005.
Schaeffer, Francis. A Christian Manifesto. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2005.
United States, . The Avalon Project, "Treaty of Peace and Friendship." Last modified 2008. Accessed November 14, 2013. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1796t.asp.

Show More
Related

  • Freedom of Speech: Missouri Knights of the Ku Klux Klan v. Kansas City

    1532 Words  | 4 Pages

    "Freedom of Religion: Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association" provided a great example dealing with the freedom of religion. The Indians had been living on that land for hundreds of years, yet were denied their attempts to declare the area as a sacred area to prevent building on the lands. In the end it was a bittersweet victory for the Indians because the G-O Road was ordered to remain uncompleted because of the environment and not because it was a sacred territory for Indians. I believe that the Indians should have won the case in the Supreme Court because they were protected by the First Amendment. The case shouldn't have lasted as long as it did.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Thomas Jefferson's Separation Of Church And State

    1838 Words  | 4 Pages

    When it came down to the government during the convention of May 1776, instead of protecting our rights they had passed them down causing us to be under common law. If one had denied the Christian faith and went against everything it believed in, such as, “there are more Gods than one, or denies the Christian religion to be true, or the scriptures to be of divine authority, he is punishable on the first offence by incapacity to hold any office or employment ecclesiastical, civil, or military,” (Jefferson 176). This is what most people had thought about if you did not follow their religion. Thomas Jefferson believed that the wall between church and state should be very high in order to keep out and prevent hostile situations. Using an example from today’s news, many people get uncomfortable in the United Stated with the Muslim religion because of the previous horrific events that led to many cruel deaths in our history. By this, the way that we look at these people is forever changed because of the incidents and who knows if we will ever not be hostile with one another because of it. If church and state hadn’t been separated we may have not become a true democracy from what our developing country was seeming to lead towards. More people would not be as accepting of each other, and not that they are still not today, but I feel as if it may

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Us Constitution And The Declaration Of Independence

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his brief response, President Jefferson sympathized with the Baptists in their opposition to the state of Connecticut’s established religion. The question of this assignment is “What do you think the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution thought about the separation of church and state or about the separation of God from government?” While devoutly committed to religious liberty He deeply opposed established churches as existed in Massachusetts and Connecticut, but recognized that, as President, he had to respect them. The letter contains the phrase "wall of separation between church and state," that expressed his reverence for the First Amendment’s “wall of separation between Church & State” at the federal level. This became the short-hand for the Establishment Clause that we use today: "Separation of church and state." President Jefferson put much thought and intense scrutiny into the letter, and consulted New England politicians to assure that his words would not offend while still conveying his message that it was not the place of the Congress or of the Executive to do anything that might be misconstrued an establishment of religion. The now well-known the phrase "wall of separation between church and state,” lay

    Read More

  • Prayer in School: One Hypocrisy of Our Democracy

    1961 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Myth of the Separation of Church and State retrieved on January 7, 2005 from: http://www.noapathy.org/tracts/mythofseparation.html

    Read More

  • One Nation, Under God

    2046 Words  | 5 Pages

    Wood, James E, Jr. "Religious Human Rights and a Democratic State." Journal of Church and State 4(2004):739. eLibrary. Web. 31 Aug. 2011.

    Read More

  • Prejudice in The Song of Roland

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    Perry, Marvin, et al. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics and Society. 4th ed. Vol. I. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.

    Read More

  • Evil, Faith, and Redemption in Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown

    1219 Words  | 3 Pages

    the power of faith are developed and can be used to show the problems in today’s culture.

    Read More

  • Civil Liberties And Civil Rights

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    To open this discussion, I would like to start with the civil liberty of freedom of religion. This liberty was identified in my original Constitution essay through the mentioning of the separation of church and state clause. The reason for my including of this liberty, and my stressing of its importance, is that I feel that the government interprets this liberty in a one sided fashion because of the incorrect interpretation of the already in place separation of church and state clause. I also include it because I believe that recently the attacks upon religion have metastasized and tha...

    Read More

  • American History: America Now and Then

    2178 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hawley, Helen, and Gary Taylor. "Freedom of religion in America." Contemporary Review 282.1649 (2003): 344+. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Process Philosophy in American Society

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    Martin, Glenn Richards. "Chapter 8-13." Prevailing Worldviews of Western Society since 1500. Marion, IN: Triangle, 2006. 134+. Print.

    Read More

  • Acts Of Faith By Eboo Patel's 'Acts Of Faith'

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    Just as there is a variety of identities involving race, gender, and class, so too are there a range of religious identities. Byzantine Catholics, Hindus, born-again Evangelicals, atheists, agnostics, and Buddhists are only a few religious identities I have encountered in America. This environment, at best, allows religious variety to be understood and embraced—and at worst, divides us. In Acts of Faith, author Eboo Patel discusses his belief that the “faith line” will define conflict and concord in the 21st century.

    Read More

  • The Practice of Religion in Public Schools

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    The “establishment” or “religion” clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (Education Week, 2003, para. 2). It is from this clause that the idea of separation of church and state comes. It is also the basis for much of the debate regarding the practice of religion in public schools (Education Week, 2003). One of the big questions regarding the religion issue is where to draw the line between separation of church and state and religious freedom. The practice of religion in public schools can balance these two ends by allowing students to individually exercise their religious freedom, so long as they do not interfere with that of other students.

    Read More

  • Fast Track Quotes

    1533 Words  | 4 Pages

    I finish reading this book within a few days of the deadline due to the “last minute adrenaline rush”. The reason why I need the adrenaline rush is because of how slow the flow of the story was. So, get ready for the “Fast Track”, where faith and effort are discussed, which can transform you from a failure to a very influential global citizen with civic responsibilities within the “7 Spheres of Influence and Integration Model”. Faith was the mod theme of the book.

    Read More

  • The Role of Religion in Politics

    2726 Words  | 6 Pages

    The role of religion in politics is a topic that has long been argued, and has contributed to the start of wars, schisms (both political and religious), and other forms of inter and intra-state conflict. This topic, as a result of its checkered past, has become quite controversial, with many different viewpoints. One argument, put forth by many people throughout history, is that religion and the government should remain separate to avoid any conflicting interests. This view also typically suggests that there is one, or several, large and organized religions like the Roman Catholic Church, which would be able to use their “divine” authority to sway the politics of a given state by promising or threatening some form of godly approval or disapproval. By leveraging their divine power, individual figures within a religion, as well as the religion as a whole, could gain secular power for themselves, or over others. A second view, which was developed by many theologians through history, suggests that that without religion there would be a general lack of morality in the people and leaders of a given state, which would give way to poor political decisions that would not be in the interest of the people and perhaps even God (or the gods). This argument, however, does not address the fact that morality can exist without religion. In sociology, it is commonly accepted that social norms, which include morality, can result from any number of things. Religion, laws, or the basic desire of survival can all create these norms, so it suffices to say that as a society, our morals reflect our desire to live in relative peace through the creation of laws that serve to help us to survive. The argument of whether or not religion and politics should mix...

    Read More

  • The Compatibility of Faith and Reason

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s modern western society, it has become increasingly popular to not identify with any religion, namely Christianity. The outlook that people have today on the existence of God and the role that He plays in our world has changed drastically since the Enlightenment Period. Many look solely to the concept of reason, or the phenomenon that allows human beings to use their senses to draw conclusions about the world around them, to try and understand the environment that they live in. However, there are some that look to faith, or the concept of believing in a higher power as the reason for our existence. Being that this is a fundamental issue for humanity, there have been many attempts to explain what role each concept plays. It is my belief that faith and reason are both needed to gain knowledge for three reasons: first, both concepts coexist with one another; second, each deals with separate realms of reality, and third, one without the other can lead to cases of extremism.

    Read More

More about Integration of Faith in Government

Open Document