AN AMERICAN THEOCRACY?

Theocracy: “government by divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided. In many theocracies, government leaders are members of the clergy, and the state’s legal system is based on religious law.”

It is often claimed that America’s Founders were Christian, but that is not the whole story. Several were deists who believed in a creator God but did not believe that God intervened in our daily affairs and a few others were theists who did believe in divine intervention, but the Founders almost universally believed that people should serve God through living good and moral lives. Some did not believe the Bible was the inspired word of God and also believed that humans’ ability to think rationally was how to determine which Biblical passages were divinely inspired. You may recall that Thomas Jefferson actually rewrote the Bible to include passages he considered authentic.

Sure, our Founders almost universally read and studied the Bible, but they also read and studied Enlightenment writers such as Hobbes, Smith, Locke, Bacon, Burke, Grotius, Pufendorf, Rousseau, and Montesquieu.

The bottom line is that some of our Founders were devout, but others were more skeptical. And Ben Franklin among others questioned Jesus’ divinity and other basic precepts of the faith. I think it is fair to say that though most Founders followed some form of Christianity, they thought every individual should worship, or not worship, as he or she prefers, and that the government should not impose religious beliefs. Freedom of religion was important.

So important that Article VI, Clause 3 of the Constitution states that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States”. Later, the 1st Amendment included two relevant passages; Congress may not pass laws that 1) establish a religion, or 2) prohibit the “free exercise” of religion.

What about the principle of separation of church and state? A variation of this phrase was first used by Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, who thought government should avoid involvement in religion because it would corrupt the church. Of course, Thomas Jefferson’s assertion that the 1st Amendment “builds a wall of separation between the church and state” is more widely known, and this is the approach and interpretation used by the Supreme Court throughout our history.

OK, Dave. Enough history already!

Our Founders did NOT intend to establish a Christian nation. I’d say it a little louder for the folks in the back, but they are not listening. Evidence?

• In a 2022 interview Speaker of the House Mike Johnson admitted that he does not believe in separation of church and state. He said, “the founders wanted to protect the church from an encroaching state, not the other way around.” Johnson follows evangelist David Barton of Texas who says the Founders wanted America to be a Christian theocracy. In 2020 a reporter asked Johnson about his views on issues, to which he responded: ‘Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.” Can someone direct me to Biblical passages related to online child pornography, highway construction, CO2 emissions, nuclear arms, and airplane safety?

• A couple of years ago Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene stated: "We need to be the party of nationalism. And I'm a Christian. I say it proudly we should be Christian nationalists." Christian nationalism is the movement to officially make America a Christian nation.

• A few weeks ago when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that life begins at conception, it relied heavily on the Bible. The opinion stated: “We believe that each human being, from the moment of conception, is made in the image of God, created by Him to reflect His likeness. It is as if the People of Alabama took what was spoken of the prophet Jeremiah and applied it to every unborn person in this state: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, Before you were born I sanctified you.’ Jeremiah 1:5 (NKJV 1982).”

• In 2018, when justifying the policy of separating undocumented immigrants from their children, Attorney General Jeff Sessions quoted Romans 13 from the Bible which says “to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes”. FYI: Romans 13 has been used by other political leaders to justify policies such as Jim Crow laws and apartheid in South Africa.

• In 2014 remarks regarding immigration, President Obama referenced Exodus 23, stating that “Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger — we were strangers once, too.”

• Speaking before a church last year, Representative Lauren Boebert stated: “The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church. I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk.”

• President Trump used the Bible as a prop to garner evangelical support, and he declared the Bible his favorite book followed by his own Art of the Deal.

• And even Jewish Senator Bernie Sanders recited the Bible’s Golden Rule before a crowd at ultra-conservative Liberty University.

Examples are endless, but I also find it fascinating, and somewhat alarming, that in a recent poll about 30% of Americans express at least some support for Christian nationalism. In some states, notably my home state of Mississippi and North Dakota, more than 50% of respondents support that movement.

And before you have me tarred and feathered, I am NOT anti-religion. I was raised in the Methodist Church and for many years was a Presbyterian. I know the good work done by many churches and their benefit to society. I just don’t want government using religion to justify its actions. Also, as I’ve stated previously, there are at least 41,000 Christian denominations, so there is very little theological agreement within Christianity. What denomination’s views should guide government’s decisions?

Further, not all Americans are Christians, and the number of declared Christians has been steadily declining. About 50 years ago 90% of Americans identified as Christian, but in 2022 only 64% did so. According to current projections America’s Christian population may be as low as 35% by 2070.

The bottom line? I think politicians often use the Bible to support their policies rather than relying on the Constitution, the intent of our Founders, rational decision-making, or data and facts.

An aside: Back when I was in high school (during the Lincoln Administration), we had a teacher who interpreted the Bible’s Book of Revelations for us. I’m sure she would have supported using the Bible to support public policy, but I’m glad that wasn’t the case because the world did not end although she said the apocalypse would occur within a couple of years.

Yeah. I don’t want other people interpreting religious texts for me, and I definitely don’t want them justifying governmental decisions using those texts.

Thanks for following along.

David