God and Government

by Ed Taylor                                                                                                                          Vol. XVII, No. 5, May  2004

     Pastor, Amissville Baptist Church

With the recent news reports regarding the homosexual issue along with the controversy surrounding "The Passion," the Ten Commandments, abortion, and the use of God in the Pledge of Allegiance, it seems that our nation is sliding further and faster down the path of invoking God’s judgment rather than His blessing. How is it that we can support a constitution in Iraq naming Islam as the official religion and yet cry so loudly for separation of church and state in the United States? Some argue it is because the history and culture of Iraq demands it whereas our Constitution calls for such separation. Is that really true?

First, our Constitution does not call for separation of church and state. The exact wording from the First Amendment is, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..." To the best of my knowledge, this has been upheld; Congress has made no law. However, the courts certainly have. The courts have used this amendment to do exactly what the framers of the Constitution feared; they have suppressed the free exercise of religion. Or, to be more precise, the free exercise of Christianity while most other religions are still free to do as they will. How is this accomplished when nowhere in Article III of the Constitution is legislative authority granted to the courts? Quite simply, they are using case law to legislate.

That is one reason the upcoming election is so important. We need a President who will appoint, and senators who will approve, judges that are "strict constructionists." Strict constructionists are judges who believe it is their job is not to legislate but to adjudicate. We need judges who read and interpret the Constitution for what it truly says, not what they wish it said. In the realm of theology, most conservative Baptists want pastors and leaders who preach, teach, and interpret the Bible as it is written. Those who read more or less into Scripture than what is there become pharisaical legalists on one hand or liberals on the other. Judges who do the same with the Constitution become dictatorial suppressionists of Christianity while allowing murder and immorality to flourish as legally protected freedoms.

What about our history and culture? God is mentioned in documents from the Mayflower Compact to the Declaration of Independence to the constitutions of all fifty states. Though we have members in our church from Connecticut to Florida to Texas, the majority come from Virginia and North Carolina. The Virginia Constitution states in the Bill of Rights, XVI: "That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other." The North Carolina Constitution states in its Preamble: "We, the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for the preservation of the American Union and the existence of our civil, political and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity..."

This has merely been an overview, a skimming of the surface, of these issues. Yet, it should be abundantly clear that the founders of our nation understood that the only hope the United States has of continuing freedom and prosperity is a continuing dependence on and commitment to Almighty God. Let us pray and strive for a President, a Congress, and a Judiciary who understand this as well. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)