August 26, 2002
ANOTHER VIEW:
Don't search for God in government, but in the governed
___What was your first reaction when you learned federal courts in California had rendered a decision effectively striking the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance recited in public schools?
___I was indignant at the thought that religious faith was suffering another blow in American society, with God being extracted from one more area of our lives. Fortunately, thought and study have reversed my indignation. Perhaps God never belonged in the pledge. For that matter, maybe the pledge never belonged in schools. I don't think God belongs on our coins either. I've concluded that God should be in the governed, not in the government.
___The Corpus Christi Caller-Times recently printed a syndicated article on the pledge and its history that was quite enlightening. Baptist minister and socialist Francis Bellamy wrote the pledge in the 1890s to be recited in public schools as part of a patriotic ritual to start each day: "I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
We should heed Jesus' instructions to render to Caesar what is Caesar's and never fail to give to God what is rightly his.
___"Under God" was added in 1954.
___And how did "In God we Trust" end up as our national motto and on our currency? Our nation's motto was "E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"). Both the pledge and the motto were officially changed in the 1950s, during the communist scare, when many felt that the United States needed protection from the "godless communists." The change in the pledge was an act of Congress, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. The practice of stamping the motto on our coinage evolved from Civil War days, culminating with an act of Congress introduced by fellow Texan Lyndon Johnson in 1955.
___As a believer in Christianity, a Texas Baptist and a patriotic citizen, I've probed my own opinions through this controversy regarding what is the right degree of separation between my God and my government. The answer is eloquently found in Jesus' own words from the Gospel of Matthew. When asked by the religious leaders about rebelling against paying taxes to Caesar, Jesus taught us from the image stamped on the Roman coin, "'Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?' 'Caesar's,' they replied. Then (Jesus) said to them, 'Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.'"
___What was Jesus saying? Man's relationship with God is separate and distinct from his relationship with government. I wonder how Jesus would really feel about having his name on any government's currency? Does it really honor my God or any god to have his name on money?
___Where did this notion of separation of church and state come from? Not from Europe. In the 1600s, European countries all had state religions. Christians of many faiths suffered under those religions and sought freedom on this continent but did not find it. In the establishment of the United States, the First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." But the early states (including Texas) inherited state sponsorship of religion from their European heritage.
___Such was the problem of the Danbury (Connecticut) Baptist Association in 1801, when they wrote President Jefferson: "Our sentiments are uniformly on the side of Religious Liberty--That Religion is at all times and places a matter between God and individuals--That no man ought to suffer in name, person, or effects on account of his religious opinions. ... Religion is considered as the first object of legislation; and therefore what religious privileges we enjoy we enjoy as favors granted, and not as inalienable rights: and these favors we receive at the expense of such degrading acknowledgements ... those, who seek after power & gain under the pretense of government & religion should reproach their fellow men ... should reproach their chief magistrate, as an enemy of religion law & good order ... our hopes are strong that the sentiments of our beloved President, ... (will) prevail through all these states and all the world till hierarchy and tyranny be destroyed from the Earth."
___State-supported religion was a form of tyranny to the Danbury Baptists.
___Jefferson wrote back: "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God; that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship; that the legislative powers of the government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore man to all of his natural rights."
___I see remarkable agreement between the sentiments expressed by Thomas Jefferson in his response to the Danbury Baptists and Jesus' instructions to render unto Caesar only those things that belong to him. No matter what his theological views, Jefferson was very much on the side of the Baptists with regard to their freedom from persecution in Connecticut.
___So, how much separation should there be between the church and the state? Ask yourself: Is there one example on this planet, in history, where the promotion of any religion by any nation has helped to free people? To the contrary, absolute separation in the establishment of the United States has allowed freedom, prosperity and religion to flourish. Freedom is impossible in a nation that mandates or imposes one religious system over another, even if that religion is Christianity. Religious liberty is incompatible with state-sponsored religion.
___Did the changes in the pledge and the motto help America? Have things gotten better since 1955? Are we a more godly country? Are we a more moral society? Or did we just abdicate parental responsibilities for teaching our children about religion to our pledge and a motto on our currency?
___The real reason God is not in the public schools is that children haven't brought him there in their hearts. He's not missing from our schools; he's been lost in the home.
___It is remarkable that our historical "Baptist" regard for complete separation between church and state is more enthusiastically supported by atheists than by national churches. On this matter, Baptists may have more in common with atheists than many Christian denominations.
___Christians, particularly Baptists, have flourished in this great land because of the guarantee of religious liberty in the First Amendment. We should protect separation of church and state with zeal, rejecting the mistaken notion that God should be legislated by any means into the practice of government. God shouldn't be legislated into a public school pledge, into our national motto or onto our currency.
___We should heed Jesus' instructions to render to Caesar what is Caesar's and never fail to give to God what is rightly his. God rightly belongs in hearts of the governed, not in the practices of government. And may God bless America for the liberty she provides for all people of all faiths, even those with no faith at all.
___Randy Bissell is a petroleum geologist and member of Parkdale Baptist Church in Corpus Christi.
The Baptist Standard
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook