Separate religion, government

In the beginning, there were 13 colonies. Some were more imperial than others, some had a state religion. When the U.S. Constitution was drafted, Article II Section 9 stated that there will be no nobility. Amendment I to the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or, prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Many people believe our Constitution was written well enough to have been inspired by the Christian God.

As far as I can see, a primary reason that our constitutional way of life has worked is because religion and government have kept clearly separated. Until about 40 years ago, this worked quite well.

Then, pastors started urging their congregation to overwhelm Republican caucuses and to influence primaries. There are now elected officials stating that our God-inspired Constitution is of little value and that the only valid Constitution is the Christian Bible (Catholic or King James Version?).

From my observations, some Christian religious elements are engaged to our government and many pastors would love to marry one of them to the government. If married, there is just one name they can or will have.

Which religion will survive? To get an idea of what could happen if a single religion and our government marry, consider what happened from about the 10th century to about the 17th century. Progression within the Christian world stood almost still.

Regardless of your political persuasion, stop and reflect.

Dean Barnum

Cedar Rapids