State vs. Church in Evangelicals' Minds

A common and curious aspect to many conservative evangelicals' complaints about the absence of their religion in the government is the way they focus on the state rather than on their own churches. Why do they invest the state with the responsibility to promote theism and religion?

James L. Evans, pastor of Auburn First Baptist Church in Auburn, Alabama, writes:

[I]f we blame all of our country's current problems on the failure of the state to acknowledge God, what does that say about the church?

After all, isn't the church a public acknowledgment of God? When congregations pray, aren't they engaged in public prayer? When the Bible is read, doesn't that count as Bible reading?

Is the church such an inadequate institution that if God is not acknowledged in the courthouse and schoolhouse, then he is removed from the public sphere?

People of faith who accept these arguments need to realize how they demean the role of the church in the world. Wasn't it the faith community that was ordained by God to provide settings for worship, instruction and for breaking the bread of Communion? And can you really acknowledge God properly without these things?

Evans focuses in particular on comments by Roy Moore. In his recent book, Moore has just a single paragraph that discusses his experiences in a church — nothing more. Moore discusses his interpretations of the actions of the Founding Fathers regularly, but evidently has little to say about the "teaching of Jesus."

The acknowledgment of God that takes place week in and week out in local faith communities is discounted. Meanwhile, there is weeping and wailing because a monument of the Ten Commandments is not on display at the courthouse.

So, again, we have to ask: why invest the state with a responsibility to promote theism and religion? Isn't this something that the churches should be doing? Actually, this is reminiscent of people asking that a company or industry receive special government protection because they can't compete in the free market. Perhaps that's what is driving conservative evangelicals: the realization that in the long term, they can't compete unless their churches receive special protections and subsidies from the state.

Read More:

• Separation of Church and State 101
• Church and State News
• Ten Commandments
• Secularism 101