Speaker asks for change

U.S. receives poor grade for separation of church and state

By Katy Blair

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The United States got a C+ on its current attempts at separating church and state.

Derek H. Davis announced his final grade for the U.S. Monday evening during his lecture, “Explaining the complexities of religion and state in the United States.” Davis lectured about his thoughts on a deteriorating separation between religion and government matters.

“There are lots of conflicts, anomalies and inconsistencies in the whole system,” said Davis, dean of the college of humanities at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor in Belton, Texas. “Lots of people think we can’t have prayers before athletic events, and yet the U.S. Congress has people who are paid with your tax-payer dollars to stand in front of them every day to lead these sessions with prayers.”

Davis said one erosion of the separation idea deals directly with schools.

Private schools have become dependent on government money to function. Not only does government financial support conflict the idea of religion being independent from government, but it will result in decreasing public duty to support those religious institutions.

J.R. Madill, a Baptist minister in Columbia, Mo., said the separation of church and state is crucial to the success of the nation.

“I think the church relies far too much on the government to do what it was created to do,” Madill said. “I think that by allowing the two to be intertwined, we really sort of cheat both.”

Madill said that if the U.S. wants to be a secular society by definition, it must exclude specific religious groups from any authoritative leadership roles. The Columbia minister said that interaction rather than reliance on one another will help both prosper.

Davis expanded on his point by addressing political issues that combine the church and state in the country.

Presidential candidates are not required to adhere to one religion, but Davis said they are unofficially expected by the public to express their religious beliefs.

However, Davis said there is such a thing as “civil religion,” where some religious practices are accepted in government because they create a national identity.

Civil religion includes the national motto, “In God We Trust,” and even the religious symbols on the back of the dollar bill.

Davis said civil religion has a place in society, but misuses were a detriment to its success. Davis’ example of such misuse was former President George Bush using religion as a justification for the Gulf War.

He explained that President Bush compared the U.S. to Jesus Christ as the light of the world, representing good. To stamp out the evil, or Iraq, he proposed going to war, hoping the religious representation would spur support.

Rich Morrell, Warrensburg, Mo., resident, said Davis discussed concerns for our nation that were important to address. He added that the separation of church and state was necessary for both to function correctly.

“I think that the separation of church and state has served our nation very well,” Morrell said. “When we have this creeping of religion into government, we actually devalue the value of religion.”

Kansan staff writer Katy Blair can be contacted at kblair@kansan.com.

— Edited by Joe Caponio

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