Separation of Church and State: Intolerant?

Is it intolerant to separate church and state? Is it intolerant to religious people to assert that the government doesn't have the authority to privilege their religion and their religious beliefs over all other religions and beliefs? Well, some certainly think so - and let's be frank: they want a theocracy in America in order to eliminate the rights of others. They may not say so outright, but that's the only outcome of their outrageous ideology.

A good example would be a recent column by Angela Wittman in the Illinois Leader. The Illinois Representative for the National Constitution Party, Wittman writes:

This malady of intolerance is being preached a minority of unenlightened, self-proclaimed "social engineers" who want us to believe that our nation was not founded upon Biblical principles and that our Founding Fathers had an aversion to Christianity being practiced in the public square. As a Christian, I resent this bigoted attempt to rewrite history from an atheistic perspective.

As a rational, informed adult, I resent such distortions and twisted half-truths. First, there is no attempt to stop people from practicing Christianity in the public square - if Wittman wants to go pray or read her Bible in the public square, nothing is stopping her. The only things being stopped is using the government to promote or endorse the practice of Christianity. Is that what Wittman really wants? I think so. At any rate, I'd love to see what "Biblical principles" are endorsed in the Constitution - you'll notice that she doesn't trouble herself to mention any, even though she tries to use that claim in her argument.

Ask them where they find the phrase “separation of church and state” in our federal Constitution (or even in the minutes of the Constitutional Convention!). It’s just not there!

This is a common complaint, and one easily answered. If she isn't aware of that answer then she hasn't done her homework on this issue; if she is aware of it, then she is deliberately misleading her readers by not trying to address it. This, unfortunately, seems to be a problem which afflicts the writings of a great number of theocrats - not just Wittman. They perpetuate nonsense which is readily addressed, but anyone reading their material will get the impression that they wrote something profound and unanswerable.

Read More:

• Secularism 101
• Separation of Church and State 101
• Religious Right
• Christian Extremism
• Christian Nationalism
• Religious Intolerance & Bigotry