Christian Nation?

Think about this: As Bishop England wisely put it, “There never was a union of church and state which did not bring serious evils to religion.”

I just passed upon the website of Americans United. Their purpose is to protect the rights of separation of Church and state. They presented some recent poll data that was more than a little bit scary; it said that 55% of Americans believe that the constitution establishes the U.S. as a Christian nation.

The posting also reminds us of the work of Bishop John England, who was a staunch supporter of the separation of Church and state. Please allow me to present some quotes that I thought it important for us to consider:

England Argued, “If ninety-nine hundredths of the present population, were to become Catholics to-morrow, they would be morally criminal did they exclude the remaining hundredth portion from any civil, or political, or religious right; and under our Constitution the attempt would be usurpation, and therefore invalid.”

He also stated, “Congress has no power to nurse the Evangelist, nor to frown upon the Papist; it cannot prefer the Christian to the Jew; nor bestow one cent either to plant the Gospel in Monrovia, to build a synagogue at Grand Island, or a mosque in New York.”

He really makes some solid points and when one considers the history of what has happened when the religion is in a place of Governmental power it never really works out well. Consider the past power of the Catholic church or what of nations of Islam? Religion has its place in peoples lives but its my opinion that a ruling body should neither promote nor deny its practice. Do yourself a favor and visit their site.

http://blog.au.org/2008/09/22/christian-nation-nonsense-americans-need-lessons-in-history-and-civics/