I participated in a roundtable discussion on Wednesday, May 11, at Oxford University in the Oxford Union in England. The topic was about mixing politics with religion. See
https://oxford-union.org/event/interfaith-panel/
Here were my opening remarks,
Mixing politics with religion is fraught with danger. We all know theocracies, where leaders govern by the will of an infallible god. Openly defying the “correct” faith is called blasphemy and leads to harsh punishments, even death. I thinkeveryone should have the right to practice any religion or none, as long as they don’t force their beliefs on others. I appreciate people whose religion inspires them to work on important social justice issues. In countries that are not theocratic, politics might still be infused with religion. My country, the United States, has a secular government with a problem of religion immersed in politics.
https://oxford-union.org/event/interfaith-panel/
Here were my opening remarks,
Mixing politics with religion is fraught with danger. We all know theocracies, where leaders govern by the will of an infallible god. Openly defying the “correct” faith is called blasphemy and leads to harsh punishments, even death. I thinkeveryone should have the right to practice any religion or none, as long as they don’t force their beliefs on others. I appreciate people whose religion inspires them to work on important social justice issues. In countries that are not theocratic, politics might still be infused with religion. My country, the United States, has a secular government with a problem of religion immersed in politics.
I hold in my hand a Godless document—the United States Constitution. Our framers established the first nation in history meant to separate religion and government. Authority rests with "We the People" (the first three words of the Constitution) not with "Thou the Deity." The only mentions of religion in the Constitution are exclusionary. The First Amendment prohibits the U.S. Congress from making laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Article VI prohibits religious tests for public office. That didn’t stop some states from putting religious requirements in their state constitutions, including my state. I was a candidate for governor of South Carolina in 1990 to challenge the provision in my State Constitution that bars atheists from holding public office. After an eight-year legal battle, I won a unanimous decision in the South Carolina Supreme Court, striking down this unconstitutional religious test requirement.
The U.S. Declaration of Independence, which is not a governing document, does refer to a Creator endowing people with unalienable rights. The Declaration was a call for rebellion against the British Crown, to distinguish us from an empire that asserted the divine right of kings. Our founders were products of the Enlightenment, looking toward reason and evidence from the natural world. Many were deists, referring to Nature’s God who set the laws of nature in motion and then retired as deity emeritus. Had they known about evolution and modern science, many would likely have been atheists.
In 1954, American President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law the addition of the words “under God” to our Pledge of Allegiance to distinguish us from godless Communists. This turned our secular pledge, recited daily by students, into a religious pledge. America is one nation under the Constitution, or maybe under Canada, but not one nation under God.
Similarly, "In God we trust" became our controversial national motto in 1956 at the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, replacing the more inclusive motto “E pluribus unum,” Latin for "out of many, one."
The 10 Commandments are another divisive issue. Many Americans who want them displayed in schools and courts either don’t realize or don’t care that the first Commandment (Thou shalt have no other gods) conflicts with the first Amendment, which guarantees the freedom to worship one, many, or no gods. Churches and individuals are certainly free to post the 10 Commandments openly, just not on government buildings.
In 2016 Donald Trump became president, in large part because of overwhelming support by white Christian Evangelicals. Many are also white Christian Nationalists who long for the olden days when their white privilege enabled them more easily to discriminate against those of a different race, and those with non-Christian or no religious beliefs. These white Christian nationalists are trying to rewrite American history, claiming that the U.S. was formed as a “Christian nation.”
On January 6, 2021, we learned just how fragile my country’s democracy could be as Donald Trump incited a mob of terrorists to storm our nation’s Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Many were inspired by their white Christian nationalism.
Lots of Christians in America feel Christianity is under attack and that Christians deserve special rights, including tax dollars to support private Christian schools. They want to require prayer in schools, and sex education classes to teach “abstinence only.” Some have convinced states to pass anti-gay, anti-transgender, and anti-abortion bills. Some also promote unscientific religious teachings, like creationism, in secular schools
Christians have a lot of influence over the U.S. government. The Republican party succeeded in packing our Supreme Court with conservative Christian justices who, in June, will vote to overturn Roe V Wade, a 1973 decision that legalized abortion everywhere in the U.S.
Looking at countries around the world shows that religion and politics can make a terrible partnership, and when mixing the two we often get the worst of both.
The U.S. Declaration of Independence, which is not a governing document, does refer to a Creator endowing people with unalienable rights. The Declaration was a call for rebellion against the British Crown, to distinguish us from an empire that asserted the divine right of kings. Our founders were products of the Enlightenment, looking toward reason and evidence from the natural world. Many were deists, referring to Nature’s God who set the laws of nature in motion and then retired as deity emeritus. Had they known about evolution and modern science, many would likely have been atheists.
In 1954, American President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law the addition of the words “under God” to our Pledge of Allegiance to distinguish us from godless Communists. This turned our secular pledge, recited daily by students, into a religious pledge. America is one nation under the Constitution, or maybe under Canada, but not one nation under God.
Similarly, "In God we trust" became our controversial national motto in 1956 at the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, replacing the more inclusive motto “E pluribus unum,” Latin for "out of many, one."
The 10 Commandments are another divisive issue. Many Americans who want them displayed in schools and courts either don’t realize or don’t care that the first Commandment (Thou shalt have no other gods) conflicts with the first Amendment, which guarantees the freedom to worship one, many, or no gods. Churches and individuals are certainly free to post the 10 Commandments openly, just not on government buildings.
In 2016 Donald Trump became president, in large part because of overwhelming support by white Christian Evangelicals. Many are also white Christian Nationalists who long for the olden days when their white privilege enabled them more easily to discriminate against those of a different race, and those with non-Christian or no religious beliefs. These white Christian nationalists are trying to rewrite American history, claiming that the U.S. was formed as a “Christian nation.”
On January 6, 2021, we learned just how fragile my country’s democracy could be as Donald Trump incited a mob of terrorists to storm our nation’s Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Many were inspired by their white Christian nationalism.
Lots of Christians in America feel Christianity is under attack and that Christians deserve special rights, including tax dollars to support private Christian schools. They want to require prayer in schools, and sex education classes to teach “abstinence only.” Some have convinced states to pass anti-gay, anti-transgender, and anti-abortion bills. Some also promote unscientific religious teachings, like creationism, in secular schools
Christians have a lot of influence over the U.S. government. The Republican party succeeded in packing our Supreme Court with conservative Christian justices who, in June, will vote to overturn Roe V Wade, a 1973 decision that legalized abortion everywhere in the U.S.
Looking at countries around the world shows that religion and politics can make a terrible partnership, and when mixing the two we often get the worst of both.
