church-and-state

SustainableMiddleClass.com
Home	Blog	Site Map

Accommodating Religious Faith without Losing Reason

Bible teachings, taken literally, are often at odds with civil society. The role of religion needs to be limited in our schools and other civil affairs.

A little religion is a good thing. You can't study culture and ignore religion. However, too much religion, I'm convinced, is dangerous. Much of what I hear from religious zealots on the radio and TV is worrisome.

My wife and I joined churches after we started having kids. Both congregations are associated with long-established international organizations and could accurately be characterized as "mainstream Protestant." Neither my wife nor I are very religious, at least not in a doctrinaire way. God is love. But we thought our children's education should include some kind of church experience. This is pretty much standard procedure here in the United States. We as parents would discuss the church teachings with the kids at home and they could ultimately decide what to believe. We closely monitor what happens at church and Sunday school.

I can report the experiences we've had with both churches have been positive. The kids have a good time and like to attend. They've been treated kindly and the message they hear is generally good, for example, your life is important, God cares about you, be kind to others, respect yourself. In fact, the social message they hear at Sunday school is very much in line with the Humanist Philosophy. I expect virtually all mainstream faiths whether Christian, Jewish, Islam, or other would have a similar positive message designed to help people get along in the world. As far as I can tell, mainstream religions have largely co-opted Humanist ethics, which is fine. The Interfaith Alliance dedicates its efforts to find common ground among faiths and the common ground is essentially the Humanist view of kindness toward others, generosity, etc.

You have to be brave to be a Humanist, though, and face the reality of one's own mortality, that this life is the only one we get. To walk this world with no personal lord and savior by your side, to do right for humanity's sake with no expectation of eternal reward - that takes a lot of courage.

For millions of other Americans, Christianity is far more appealing in that it offers the following benefits:

AMNESTY - Forgiveness of sins.
AFTERLIFE - A permanent vacation in Paradise.
MIRACLES - The laws of nature may be temporarily suspended to benefit ourselves or those we pray for.

A good minister can give us much to think about the way we live our lives and for those who live in the midst of tragedy or despair, faith may be the only thing that gets them through the day. I've also known good, intelligent, generous people whose religious faith gave them strength, direction, and purpose. We should all respect that. What I won't respect, however are certain efforts to make personal interpretations of biblical law into civil law. To do so, in my view would be to give up centuries of progress toward respect for individual liberty and human dignity. There is also no place for biblical teachings in science classes in public schools, in my view. There are many good messages in the bible, for example, "blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). However, there are a lot of strange pronouncements, too, which seem to be gaining traction among some nuts on TV and AM radio and factions that consider the bible to be "the inerrant word of the Lord.

Consider the following instructions from the King James Version, which can be found in an online searchable bible along with other versions and translations.

What the bible says about...

Wardrobe preferences

"The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto to a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God." Deuteronomy 22:5.

Blended fabrics

"Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen." Deuteronomy 21:11

Women Captured in War

"When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, and seest among the captives a beautiful woman and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; then thou shall bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go unto her and be her husband and she shall be thy wife." Deuteronomy 21:10-13

A New Husband's Responsibilities A lot of us could get on board with this one, why aren't the churches pushing this policy?

"When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home for one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken." Deuteronomy 24:5

What it takes to work for Jesus

"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:16

The "take-no-prisoners" Jesus

"But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring them hither, and slay them before me." Luke 19:27

How to Handle a Rebellious Son, Vigilante Justice (For all the Moms and Dads)

"If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them; Then shall his father and mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die; so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear and fear." Deuteronomy 21:18-21

Male Injuries

He that is wounded in the stones or hath his privy member cut off shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. Deuteronomy 23:1

"Illegitimate" Kids...and their kids...and their kids...etc., etc.

A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord. Deuteronomy 23:2

What to Do?

The state has a vested interest in the education of its citizens. Because of the strange and archaic nature of a significant portion of bible verse, I don't believe one dime of public funding should go to religious parochial schools. That includes vouchers.
There are some quality parochial schools, no doubt, but to fund them judiciously, the government would need to sort out the reasonable, responsible schools from those who would like to take society back to the Bronze Age. This kind of screening is not likely feasible, and would be a bureaucratic nightmare for the government.
Best to keep church and state, including public education, separate.

_______________________________________________________________

Keywords: controversial bible verses, school vouchers, separation of church and state,