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Why we dont need separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
Why we dont need separation of church and state
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The state and religious organizations carry different agendas and motives in the society with each having different functions that guide the way people live and exercise their freedom. Freedom of religion and worship is explicitly guaranteed in the Constitution, and the state does not indulge in the way the church organizations function. In light of the developments in the churches organizations, there are leadership issues that touch on the government and there is a great difference on the way the church is organized and the way the state is organized. From financial pursuits and expenditure on the various projects that churches engage in the way the organizations appoint their leaders, religious entities are not any different from the non-governmental organizations that perform humanitarian work in the society. In this respect, the need for the state and the religious organizations to have distinct and separate functions in the society is guaranteed so as to allow the churches to be different and independent from the control by the state (Hamburger 386).
The separation that exists between the functioning and activities of the church from the state has serious implications in the society and will greatly influence how decisions regarding laws are made at the state level. Although some of the laws made by the state do not conform to the doctrines found in religious entities, the state guarantees the freedom to the church in order to accord each organization the freedom it deserves to worship. This means that the state and laws of any society do not take sides, and any belief in the conduits on the society does not allow for support from the state. The principles of separation of the church from the state and political neutrality...
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...he income tax that the government collects goes to registered religions as nominated by each taxpayer resulting to the Roman Catholic Church getting approximately 87% of that portion allocated to religions. The place of religion in the society cannot be assumed by people in the society or by the state, but there needs to be a crucial separation of the activities of the church and the state. The state should give the religions the freedom needed to run their affairs in the society without directly imposing laws to the churches (Cochran 249). On the other hand, it is allowable for the religions to give ideas and push for the inclusion of their beliefs in the Constitution if they are for the common good of the people. However, such laws and provisions should be evaluated in order to prevent beliefs that are explicitly religious being imposed on everybody in the society.
The general court was set on a path to separating the beliefs of the church and the government. Luckily, years later a law would be passed in the Constitution that separates church and state.
The contemporary Church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the Church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the Church's silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.”
The Protestants who emigrated to America knew from experience of the negative effect the government had on religion when the two were operating together. With the mindset of creating a new perfect holy land, they decided to make sure both church and state worked separately. While Puritans still did everything they could to enforce their beliefs in New England, including exiling those who did not attend church regularly, the core idea of separation of church and state was in the minds of the people. In order to have a country that values the freedom of religion, the church has to be out of any government policy. Any laws that are created around a single church’s faith, even if the majority of the population believes in them, threaten the freedoms of all other denominations. Ame...
The modern state seeks its self-preservation above all else, and history reveals that governments are more than willing to exercise their monopoly on force and coercion in order to cement and defend their authority (5-6). Normally, unified social bodies such as the Church seek to counteract the dominance of the state through their public and political influence. However, when the Church simultaneously abdicates its political connections and powers and interiorizes itself within individual Catholics, it frees the state to exercise its will with little backlash: “Once the church has been individualized and eliminated as Christ’s body in the world, only the state is left to impersonate God”
One of the biggest misconceptions of today’s society is that politics is run by pure fact and argument, with no spiritual aspect. However, Amanda Porterfield verifies in her novel Conceived in Doubt that this statement is pretentious and false. Amanda Porterfield takes us back to the time of early government structure and development. This era in the United States is in a stage of constant change and reformation. The United States could even be argued as blind by their religious views, affecting their morals and well-being for the future of the nation. In her novel, Porterfield stresses that the government is in no way free of the church’s principles and deserts the attempt to break the bond.
With sounds of youthful laughter, conversations about the students’ weekends, and the shuffling of college ruled paper; students file into their classrooms and find their seats on a typical Monday morning. As the announcements travel throughout the school’s intercoms, the usual “Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance” becomes no longer usual but rather puzzling to some students. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.” Confusion passes through some of the student’s minds. With the reoccurrence of “God” in the backdrop of American life, the relationship between church and state has become of little to no matter for American citizens just as it has with American students. While congress makes no law respecting an establishment of religion, the term “freedom of religion” presents itself to no longer be the definition of “free”, while also having its effects on debates today. According to Burt Rieff, in Conflicting Rights and Religious Liberty, “Parents, school officials, politicians, and religious leaders entered the battle over defining the relationship between church and state, transforming constitutional issues into political, religious, and cultural debates” (Rieff). Throughout the 20th century, many have forgotten the meaning of religion and what its effects are on the people of today. With the nonconformist society in today’s culture, religion has placed itself in a category of insignificance. With the many controversies of the world, religion is at a stand still, and is proven to not be as important as it was in the past. Though the United States government is based on separation of church and state, the gover...
... middle of paper ... ... But as long as the Church and State have anything to do with one another, the struggle will continue. Bibliography:..
Proponents of a highly limited separation of church and state often argue that America’s founding fathers would be appalled at the extent to which the Judeo...
...e, vague topics. The disunity made the Church too unstable to continue possessing political power and so the State became the head of politics, and now we have separation of Church and State, which is renders this time “a secular Western culture” (Powell 6).
The religious and the government dominance remains the most disputed or discussed issues in any country of the world. However, the separation line between theses both significant domains would be commendable in order to decide powers, rights and responsibilities in the society. The Wall of Separation, a metaphor also proves to be a controversial topic in the US so as to draw a parallel line between the local and federal government and religious institutions or arrangements. In fact, chiefly, Jefferson and Justice Black have momentous opinions or contribution on this topic of “a wall of separation between church and State or laws”. Both persons seem to
The separation of church and state has been a long debated topic in the history of America. Although founded upon Christian ideals, the framers of the Constitution explicitly outlined the government to function secularly, in what is commonly referred to as the “Establishment Clause”. When interpreting the Constitution in regards to religion, there are two primary philosophies. The first philosophy this paper will explore will be referred to as Positive Toleration. In general, the idea of positive toleration creates an environment that is encouraging of all religions. The second philosophy, which will be referred to as the “Wall of Separation,” encourages government freedom from religion. Although historically these two philosophies have jockey back and forth in public popularity, as America moves into the future, the Wall of Separation philosophy will take a strong-hold and will set the course for how the Establishment Clause will affect local government, schools, and private religious practice.
"It is not the Church that turns into the state, you see. That is Rome and its dream … But, on the contrary, the state turns into the Church, it rises up to the Church and becomes the Church over all the earth..."(Dostoevsky 135). That is a quote from the book the Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky on the idea of combining the church with the government, into one being of both morale righteousness and law . What makes this quote even more interesting is that it is written by a Russian author in the 1880s, before the reality of the Soviet Union and turning the state into a church really meant. The combining of both religion and politics into an all-powerful government is a theme that surrounds most dystopian books in the early twentieth
...By tying the church to the government, people expect the government to behave ethically, but often times, an entirely moral ruler will be overthrown. People expect rulers to act differently than themselves. A ruler cannot show any weakness, or else he will no longer be feared enough to keep him in power, and he will be overthrown. Everybody sees what a ruler seems to be, but few really know who he is. A ruler must seem determined and moral to the people, and show positive results from his leadership. The most important thing for a ruler to do is to avoid being hated or despised by the people, which could occur if a ruler took people's property. For the people, more than the form of power, their perception of power may be the most important for a ruler to maintain his position. “If a ruler wins wars and holds on to power, the means he has employed will always be judged honorable, and everyone will praise him.”(pg.55) Therefore, a ruler should look mainly to winning and to the successful protection of his country. The ways he utilizes for this will always be considered honorable and will be praised by everybody.
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...
the appearance of the ruling in the name of religious doctrines like mercy, faithfulness integrity, and religion, because they have to act in the opposite manner when they are obliged to do so. The state or a political leader must always act contrary to the promise of maintaining charity, and religion in order to maintain their state. He views religion as an organization necessary for the preservation of public authority because religion instills the fear of God; a fear that keeps man disciplined and obedient and always in check. He says “ these citizens were more afraid of breaking an oath than of breaking laws, since they respected the power of God more than that of man”.