Christians living in America today are often told about how depraved society can be, and how the world is falling apart. Some remain lukewarm and apathetic while others do their part to try and improve the world. Still others have become bitter towards secularism, believing that the problems in this country stem from a lack of institutional religiosity. Many of these people proclaim that America would be a better place if only schools led prayer and taught the creation story. Yet these people seem to ignore the how it has been proven time and time again that religion and government never mix well, and in the case of the United States they have never really mixed that much at all. A healthy relationship between religion and government is one
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However, this argument relies on the view that a government’s interpretation of a religion would actually not damage the religion. Religion, when allowed to influence a government, will corrupt both itself and its government in an attempt to gain power. Controlling a population’s entire sense of morality is simply too great of a power not to be abused. Allowing a government to wield religion allows it to quite literally brainwash populations using the fear of hell. In the process of directing politics, it is highly likely that a religion’s morals would become completely twisted, even with the solid grounding of the Bible. Historically, Christianity has filled this role with surprising success. For a very long time, the Catholic church had a stranglehold on European politics. In fact, it acted as a government itself, controlling a part of Italy known as the Papal States until 1870 (“Papal States”). During its time of power, the Catholic church became incredibly corrupt. During the Catholic Inquisition, in which people were put on trial for having potentially heretical beliefs (to Catholics at least), victims could be punished using methods ranging “...from visits to churches, pilgrimages, and wearing the cross of infamy to imprisonment (usually for life but the sentences were often commuted) and (if the accused would not abjure) death,” (Helden). This abuse of power was echoed in England’s Anglican church. The Puritans, out of whom became the pilgrims, desired to leave England because of its lack of religious toleration and because the Anglican religion had not so much reformed the Catholic church as it had replaced the Pope with a king (Deverell 64-65). Eventually, though, the New England Puritans themselves had also created a religiously-dominated society, one in which “Church attendance was mandatory…”, law-breakers were
However, this argument relies on the view that a government’s interpretation of a religion would actually not damage the religion. Religion, when allowed to influence a government, will corrupt both itself and its government in an attempt to gain power. Controlling a population’s entire sense of morality is simply too great of a power not to be abused. Allowing a government to wield religion allows it to quite literally brainwash populations using the fear of hell. In the process of directing politics, it is highly likely that a religion’s morals would become completely twisted, even with the solid grounding of the Bible. Historically, Christianity has filled this role with surprising success. For a very long time, the Catholic church had a stranglehold on European politics. In fact, it acted as a government itself, controlling a part of Italy known as the Papal States until 1870 (“Papal States”). During its time of power, the Catholic church became incredibly corrupt. During the Catholic Inquisition, in which people were put on trial for having potentially heretical beliefs (to Catholics at least), victims could be punished using methods ranging “...from visits to churches, pilgrimages, and wearing the cross of infamy to imprisonment (usually for life but the sentences were often commuted) and (if the accused would not abjure) death,” (Helden). This abuse of power was echoed in England’s Anglican church. The Puritans, out of whom became the pilgrims, desired to leave England because of its lack of religious toleration and because the Anglican religion had not so much reformed the Catholic church as it had replaced the Pope with a king (Deverell 64-65). Eventually, though, the New England Puritans themselves had also created a religiously-dominated society, one in which “Church attendance was mandatory…”, law-breakers were