They just don’t get it. Well-intentioned? I’m sure they think so. Or maybe it’s just more of the heavy-handedness that has become a trademark of religious conservatism.
The Ten Commandments will be displayed in all classrooms in Texas public schools, if a new law passes. I guess it could be worse, but that’s not the point. The separation of church and state has been part of the fabric of this country from the beginning, because the founders desired that people have the right to choose for themselves, and they were likely to have known a bit about what had happened in Europe when the church got involved in politics and governance: it often didn’t go well.
The church does its best work when it is a voice on the periphery, and not at the center of attention in the town square. This doesn’t mean its members can’t be faithful and follow Jesus and try to be like him. It does mean that the church– or any religious body– can’t be calling the shots in state legislatures across the land.
And let’s make sure we know which “church” is being talked about. It’s the God-fearing, mostly white men and women of conservative Christian churches across the land who carry on as if the New Testament doesn’t exist, and who think everyone must believe as they do.
No, thanks.
3 Cents' 