Conservative Christian Case for Separation of Church-State

Jimi Jobin, an alumnus of the evangelical Liberty University and pastor of Terra Nova Faith Community in Las Vegas, has written an article giving a very convincing argument as to why conservative Christians should uphold and celebrate our forefathers' constitutional inclusion of religion-government separation.

Jobin makes the overarching point that the American colonists and our founders experienced time after time church-sponsored or run states (e.g. The Holy Commonwealth of Massachussetts - Puritans/Congregationalists, southern states - Anglican, Pennsylvania - Quakers) and the oppression and persecution that this most often elicited. So, they made sure that this wasn't going to occur when they were outlining and formulating the Constitution for the Union and thus included the first clause (no establishment clause) of the 1st Amendment.

It's a very compelling and informed open letter, and shows that there are some conservative Christian brothers and sisters who do recognize the importance of the separation between church and state. We should never keep religion out of public life, but it has no place in our governing structures, for sure.

Read the article at Religion Dispatches.

Evangelical Pastor Tests 1st Amendment

Evangelical pastor, Rev. H. Wayne Williams, is endorsing from the pulpit conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate Gordon Howie (South Dakota), likely hoping to take this issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Now, I don't often make posts concerning issues explicitly related to politics and government, but this activity is a blatant disregard of the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees the freedom of practicing any (or no) religion that we choose and freedom from any religion being established as a state religion or being favored over others, and I'm a huge advocate in support of this very important Amendment (in line with the advocacy of the Interfaith Alliance).

The issue is this: the Johnson Amendment of 1954 enacted by Congress states that no 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization can make political endorsements. This is because tax-exemption status amounts to a public subsidy since the rest of the tax-payers shoulder more tax burden of this exemption. Congress determined (appropriately and fairly) that such organizations that benefit from tax-payer subsidies shouldn't be able to endorse political candidates.

So, along with Episcopal priest and U.S. religious historian Randall Balmer, I say to these folks who want to have tax-exemption AND the benefit of political endorsement -- if you want to endorse political candidates, fine, but to make it balanced and fair, give up your tax-exempt status and thus your subsidies from the people, the tax-payers.

The no establishment clause of the 1st Amendment is the very reason why religion flourishes in great and rich diversity in the U.S. When freedom of religion and freedom from religion being tied to the government functions as a legislative principle, then religious plurality and variety and fervor burgeons, which is a wonderful thing and which is a great asset to our nation.

Those of us who are religious leaders certainly, as American citizens, have the right to walk our religious path any way we choose (granted it doesn't infringe on the rights of others) and endorse privately as a citizen any candidate we want. But the Johnson Amendment rightly disallows us from endorsing these candidates on behalf of a non-profit tax-exempt organization. And this has been upheld by the Supreme Court for years.

This is definitely a 1st Amendment separation of religion and government issue. To learn more about this issue, read Randall Balmers post on Religion Dispatches, or visit the Interfaith Alliance website. It's and excellent and informed read.

New Ex-Offender Program Puts Religion Before State

"With budgets slashed, corrections officials are struggling to reduce the recidivism rate among ex-offenders. Chuck Colson’s new program steps into the breach, and hopes to bring down the wall separating church and state to help ex-offenders stay out of prison." (Religion Dispatches, 4/25/10)

Religion Dispatches writer, Mark Bergen, covers a story about a new program called Out4Life (part of Prison Fellowship Ministries, an evangelical prison ministry) to assist in getting recidivism rates down, to help offenders stay out of prison through helping them secure a job, go through rehab, and find a church community for support.

There is a bit of controversy about Out4Life because state-run and financially-burdened prisons are increasingly relying upon these religious ex-offender programs, which raises the question about the 1st Amendment issues of the separation of church and state.

Read the whole article at Religion Dispatches to get a fuller idea of the nature and practice of this prison ministry and the surrounding controversial issues.

(Image from Religion Dispatches website courtesy of Prison Fellowship Int'l.)

A Couple Essays on Government and Religion

Recently on Religion Dispatches there are two essays that give interesting progressive religious perspectives on the relationship between the state/government and religion/spirituality.

The first is Bruce Ledewitz's report on a panel discussion about the role of religious language in government. "Can government use religious language while remaining neutral in matters of religion?"

The second is Cady, Clarkson, and Ledewitz's article giving a good dialogue dealing with whether to reaffirm a division or separation in the relationship between religion and the state based on the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or allow some religious language in the public sphere. "Is it time for progressives, religious and nonreligious, to move toward a strategic acceptance of religious language in the public square? Or should efforts be focused on adding bricks to the wall of church/state separation?"

See more articles and essays at Religion Dispatches.

Kabbalah Centre's 'Spirituality for Kids' Class Criticized

"The program, created by a leader of the L.A.-based Kabbalah Centre International, is promoted as a way to teach children how to make wise choices. Critics say it brings religion into public schools." The leaders of the program say its guiding children in after-school programs in how to navigate their way through life and make wise choices. On the other hand, critics content that it breaches the separation of "church and state" because it's based on Jewish religious foundation and being forwarded in public after-school classrooms. Seema Mehta of the LA Times reports the story.