Political Philosophy and Ethics discussion
Political Philosophy and Law
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Separation of Religion and Government; Liberty of Conscience and Toleration
Alan wrote: "Steven wrote: "Here's my best Roger Williams impression. It may be a bit intolerant in its own way, but it's what we need now."As I explained at some length in my book The First American Founder..."
Great letter. Some folks on the Court could stand to read it.
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Some years ago, I wrote to the Clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court, offering to gift a copy of my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience to their library. I never heard back. But sometime later I checked WorldCat and found that the Supreme Court does indeed have the book in their library: see https://www.worldcat.org/title/first-.... I doubt that any of the members of the current conservative majority have read or consulted it. And perhaps none of the justices has read or consulted it. But my thought was that maybe some of the Supreme Court law clerks would read it. I do discuss the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and the case law regarding same at some length in that book. In fact, I discuss this precise issue, along with Roger Williams’s position (including the Ship of State letter) and that of previous Supreme Court decisions. Although I have not yet read the Court’s religion decisions of the last few weeks, no justice, to my knowledge, has cited my book in an opinion.
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A collection of faith groups is suing Florida over its 15-week abortion ban, the third legal challenge to the state’s controversial new abortion law.However, the article links to a Complaint that has only three Jewish rabbis as plaintiffs. Perhaps there were additional complaints filed by the other religious groups mentioned in the Politico article.
The lawsuit in Miami-Dade County Court, argues that the new law, passed by lawmakers during the 2022 legislative session and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, violates constitutional freedom of speech, the free exercise of religion and the constitutional separation of Church and State.
“For decades, the Catholic bishops and Evangelical right wing have claimed a singular religious high ground on the issue of abortion rights, and tried to label anyone opposed to their views as ‘secularists,’” said Marci Hamilton, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, who is representing the plaintiffs. “Yet there are millions of Americans whose deeply held religious beliefs, speech and conduct are being substantially burdened by restrictive abortion bans.”
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of multiple religious groups, including Reform Judaism, Buddhism, the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Church.
I am cross-filing this post in the “Abortion (and Related) Law and Litigation” topic.
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See also posts 99–107 (August 7, 2022) in the “Classical Liberalism; Libertarianism and Anarchocapitalism; Objectivism” topic.
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The Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for the US Senate in Pennsylvania in the 2022 midterm election is openly and explicitly theocratic: see https://wapo.st/3d5KPFc. (As a result of my Washington Post subscription, the foregoing link can be accessed without charge for fourteen days, notwithstanding the usual Washington Post paywall.)
I am cross-filing this comment in the “Theocracy” topic.
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A recent University of Maryland Critical Issues poll asked, among other questions, “Would You Favor or Oppose the United States Officially Declaring the United States to be a Christian Nation?” 61% of Republicans and 17% of Democrats responded that they would favor such a declaration, while 39% of Republicans and 83% of Democrats said they would oppose it. Overall, 62% opposed such a declaration.
However, 70% of respondents (including 57% of Republicans and 81% of Democrats) believed that such a declaration would be unconstitutional.
For details regarding this poll and related matters, see the September 21, 2022 Politico article “Most Republicans Support Declaring the United States a Christian Nation”: https://www.politico.com/news/magazin....
Among other things, this article states:
Christian nationalism, a belief that the United States was founded as a white, Christian nation and that there is no separation between church and state, is gaining steam on the right.I address church-state separation issues in my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience. This book is a biography of Roger Williams, the seventeenth-century advocate of church-state separation and freedom of conscience who founded the settlement of Providence (Rhode Island) on the basis of these principles. I discuss in depth the historical, philosophical, and constitutional background relevant to church-state separation and freedom of conscience. See also the topic in this group Roger Williams (ca. 1603-1683) and Seventeenth-Century Rhode Island Government.
Prominent Republican politicians have made the themes critical to their message to voters in the run up to the 2022 midterm elections. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, has argued that America is a Christian nation and that the separation of church and state is a “myth.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia hard-liner, declared: “We need to be the party of nationalism and I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly, we should be Christian Nationalists.” Amid a backlash, she doubled down and announced she would start selling “Christian Nationalist” shirts. Now Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis seems to be flirting with Christian nationalist rhetoric, as well.
The desire to declare the United States a “Christian nation” is especially remarkable at the present time, when, according to a 2021 Pew poll, only 63% of the people in the United States identify as Christian (down from 75% a decade earlier), and about three in ten adults report that they are religiously unaffiliated. Under such circumstances, one wonders why Christian nationalists are so dominant in US politics and, apparently, even on the US Supreme Court. What happens to the 37% of the population who do not identify as Christians if and when the United States is declared a Christian nation? The mind boggles.
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Which reminds me. The fifth season of The Handmaid’s Tale is now available on Amazon Prime Video: see https://www.amazon.com/Handmaids-Tale.... There will be one more season.
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Church and State magazine (https://www.au.org/the-latest/church-...) is published by the decades-long organization Americans United for Separation of Church and State (https://www.au.org/), abbreviated AU. If you become a member or send them a donation of $35.00 or more, you will receive the magazine in print. It is my understanding that their online magazine articles are freely accessible regardless of membership or donations.
AU’s online mission statement is as follows:
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit educational and advocacy organization that brings together people of all religions and none to protect the right of everyone to believe as they want — and stop anyone from using their beliefs to harm others. We fight in the courts, legislatures, and the public square for freedom without favor and equality without exception.As the statement suggests, this organization has both religious and nonreligious members, and its long-time executive director, Barry Lynn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_W...), was (and perhaps still is) an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.
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Per this February 18, 2023 Washington Post article (https://wapo.st/3I7q1si), a far-fight Christian-nationalist election denier has been elected chair of the Michigan Republican Party. (As a result of my Washington Post subscription, the foregoing link can be accessed without charge for fourteen days, notwithstanding the usual Washington Post paywall.)
Here is an excerpt from the article:
In a Thursday speech to a right-wing “patriot” group in nearby Charlotte, Karamo [who was elected chair of the Michigan Republican Party] argued that Christianity belonged at the core of American politics, called evolution “one of the biggest frauds ever perpetuated on society,” and asserted the existence of demons.Karamo has refused to concede her 14-point loss for secretary of state in 2022, saying “Conceding to a fraudulent person is agreeing with the fraud, which I will not do.”
“When we start talking about the spiritual reality of the demonic forces, it’s like, ‘Oh, my God, this is crazy, we can’t go there,’ ” Karamo said. “No. It’s like, did you read the Bible? Didn’t Jesus perform exorcisms? … Scriptures are clear. And so if we’re not operating as though the spirit realities of the world exist, we’re going to fail every time.”
Democrats are smiling at their 2024 prospects in Michigan, banking that the Michigan voters will reject such extremism, as they did in 2020 and 2022. Moderate Republicans are discouraged.
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See this February 24, 2023 Washington Post article: https://wapo.st/41pQvy8. (As a result of my Washington Post subscription, the foregoing link can be accessed without charge for fourteen days, notwithstanding the usual Washington Post paywall.)
Among other things, the article states:
Asked to explain where liberal Christians fit into his theoretical Christian society, [Christian nationalist leader Doug] Wilson said they would be excluded from holding office, later noting similar prohibitions in early American Colonial settlements such as the Massachusetts Bay Colony. When it was pointed out that Puritans executed Boston Quakers, Wilson said he would not “defend” the hanging of Quakers, but then argued it was important to understand the context of the time.I discuss the seventeenth-century Massachusetts Bay theocracy (including but not limited to their execution of Quakers and whipping, imprisonment, and hanging of Baptists) and Roger Williams’s opposition to that theocracy in my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience. See also my recent book Reason and Human Ethics.
I am cross-filing the foregoing comment in the "Theocracy" topic of this Goodreads group.
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Great Britain, like other many other places (including seventeenth-century Puritan New England), has had a history of religious intolerance, persecution, and “holy” wars. This is well documented in my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience.
The British monarchy has historically merged religion and government, with the coronation of a new monarch being the celebration of such merger. After many bloody centuries, however, we are finally seeing some light coming into the cathedral. See this April 29, 2023 Washington Post article titled “In coronation twist, King Charles to pledge to protect ‘all faiths’ ”: https://wapo.st/3nak0op. (In accordance with my Washington Post subscription, the foregoing link provides access to this article for fourteen days without charge, notwithstanding the usual Washington Post paywall.)
A sample quote from the article: “In a remarkable twist, at the urging of Charles, the coronation will acknowledge that Britain is no longer an exclusively Christian country, but is in fact a multifaith nation, including many who believe in no deity at all.”
Progress, albeit not inevitable, sometimes does occur, if only in baby steps.
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On May 15, 2023, the US Department of Education issued its “Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools,” which can be accessed at https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/r.... For a summary of this policy and its background, see https://www.wesa.fm/2023-05-16/the-de....
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See this May 24, 2023 Washington Post article: https://wapo.st/424sbB3. (In accordance with my Washington Post subscription, the foregoing link provides access to this article for fourteen days without charge, notwithstanding the usual Washington Post paywall.)
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The foregoing is the title of a June 8, 2023 column by David French, which can be located at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/op.... (In accordance with my New York Times subscription, the foregoing link provides access to this article for fourteen days without charge, notwithstanding the usual New York Times paywall.)
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This June 16, 2023 Politico article (https://www.politico.com/news/magazin...) is about a Texas politician, James Talarico, who is using religion against the Texas politicians advocating more religion in politics and law. Talarico’s position is reminiscent of that of Roger Williams, who used arguments based on religion, reason, and experience to oppose the seventeenth-century Massachusetts Bay theocracy. (See my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience).
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See this interesting October 31, 2023 AP article: https://apnews.com/article/massachuse....
Here is an interesting excerpt from this morning’s Letters from an American. Professor Heather Cox Richardson is correcting speaker Johnson’s confusion about our founder’s intentions regarding the separation of church and state:Johnson rejects the separation of church and state in our government, saying that the framers’ idea “clearly did not mean…to keep religion from influencing issues of civil government. To the contrary, it was meant to keep the federal government from impeding the religious practice of citizens. The Founders wanted to protect the church from an encroaching state, not the other way around.”
Actually, James Madison of Virginia, the key thinker behind the Constitution, had quite a lot to say about why the government and religion must be kept apart.
In 1772, when he was 21, Madison watched as Virginia arrested itinerant preachers for attacking the established church in the state. He was no foe of religion, but by the next year, he had begun to question whether established religion, which was common in the colonies, was good for society. By 1776, many of his broad-thinking neighbors had come to believe that society should “tolerate” different religious practices; he had moved past tolerance to the belief that men had a right of conscience.
In that year, he was instrumental in putting Section 16 into the Virginia Declaration of Rights, on which our own Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the Constitution—would be based. It reads: “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 toward each other.”
In 1785, in a “Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments,” Madison explained that what was at stake was not just religion, but also representative government itself. The establishment of one religion over others attacked a fundamental human right—an unalienable right—of conscience. If lawmakers could destroy the right of freedom of conscience, they could destroy all other unalienable rights. Those in charge of government could throw representative government out the window and make themselves tyrants.
Madison believed that a variety of religious sects would balance each other out, keeping the new nation free of the religious violence of Europe. He drew on that vision explicitly when he envisioned a new political system, expecting that a variety of political expressions would protect the new government. In Federalist #51, he said: “In a free government the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights. It consists in the one case in the multiplicity of interests, and in the other in the multiplicity of sects.”
In order to make sure men had the right of conscience, the First Amendment to the Constitution reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….”
In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson called this amendment “a wall of separation between Church & State.” In a letter of January 1, 1802, he explained to a group of Baptists from Danbury, Connecticut, how that principle made him refuse to call for national religious days of fasting and thanksgiving in his role as head of the government.
Like Madison, he maintained that “religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship.” “[T]he legitimate powers of government reach actions only,” he wrote, “[and] not [religious] opinions.”
“[T]hat 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,’” he wrote, built “a wall of separation between Church & State.” It prevented him even from such religious practices as declaring a day of fasting in times of trouble, or thanksgiving in times of triumph.
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Thanks, Brad, for this. I develop all of these points at considerable length in my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience.
The position to which Heather Cox Richardson is responding is a common one among the Religious Right and their academic apologists. My book explores the relevant history and, like the professor, sets the record straight.
It seems that Roger Williams’s, Thomas Jefferson’s, and James Madison’s battle has to be fought anew in every generation of American history. It’s a sad commentary on the American people when not only they but also many academics and even some judges/justices so misinterpret American history and so profoundly misunderstand what is at stake.
Agreed, Alan. I need to read your Roger Williams book. I have Reason and Human Ethics queued soon.
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I have addressed the theocratic elements of present and past American and European history in my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience.
I am cross-filing this post in the “Theocracy and Erastianism” and “Separation of Religion and Government; Liberty of Conscience and Toleration” topics of this Goodreads group.
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See this December 29, 2023 Politico article: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12....
Excerpts:
Groups aligned with the conservative legal movement and its financial architect, Leonard Leo, are working to promote a publicly funded Christian school in Oklahoma, hoping to create a test case to change the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment’s separation of church and state.Let’s see. What’s next? If we allow Christian public schools, we are going to have to allow Islamic madrassa schools and, perhaps eventually, Satanic public schools.
At issue is the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma’s push to create the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would be the nation’s first religious school entirely funded by taxpayers. The school received preliminary approval from the state’s charter school board in June. If it survives legal challenges, it would open the door for state legislatures across the country to direct taxpayer funding to the creation of Christian or other sectarian schools.
For my views on such matters, see my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience.
When I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, the term “creeping socialism” was in vogue in conservative circles. We are now experiencing “creeping theocracy.”
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The foregoing is the title of this February 20, 2024 Politico article: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02....
Excerpts:
An influential think tank close to Donald Trump is developing plans to infuse Christian nationalist ideas in his administration should the former president return to power, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.I am cross-filing the present post in the “Separation of Religion and Government; Liberty of Conscience and Toleration” and “Theocracy and Erastianism” topics of this Goodreads group.
Spearheading the effort is Russell Vought, who served as Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget during his first term and has remained close to him. Vought, who is frequently cited as a potential chief of staff in a second Trump White House, is president of The Center for Renewing America think tank, a leading group in a conservative consortium preparing for a second Trump term . . . .
The documents obtained by POLITICO do not outline specific Christian nationalist policies. But Vought has promoted a restrictionist immigration agenda, saying a person’s background doesn’t define who can enter the U.S., but rather, citing Biblical teachings, whether that person “accept[ed] Israel’s God, laws and understanding of history.” . . . .
On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Trump promoted on his social media a video that suggests his campaign is, actually, a divine mission from God.
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The foregoing is the title of the following February 17, 2024 AP article: https://apnews.com/article/america-ch....
This AP article is on overall attempt to answer these questions. It is, by necessity, superficial, but many of its answers are more or less on point. For a full account of these issues, addressing them as they appeared from colonial times to the present, see my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience.
re: msg 270; June 16th. 1:35pmhttps://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Alan wrote: "RELIGIOUS POLITICS IN TEXAS
... about a Texas politician, James Talarico..."
Alan, just curious. Is it legitimate in our society for religious leaders to hold public office?
As in the case of pastors, 'worship leaders' muezzins, imams, cantors, or other kinds of evangelicals? Can a govt official also be a church leader in his private life?
I'm trying to recall from the forms I filled out myself (when I entered gov't service) whether there was a 'slot' or 'checkbox' for this on the form. As in, was there any civil service objection to such a thing.
Just wondering.
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https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Ala..."
Although some of the U.S. Founders wanted to prohibit religious officials from holding governmental office, that's not what happened. It was thought (correctly in my view) that to deny public office to religious leaders would somehow itself be a violation of the First Amendment.
The issue is not religious leaders or religious people in government. The issue is whether government should be used to promote religion at the expense of atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, and so forth and whether government should favor one religion (e.g., Christianity) over others. It is all right for individual legislators, presidents, and judges to have their own religious views as long as they don't seek to impose them on others.
Thus, a "Christian nation," in addition to being unhistorical (the leading U.S. Founders were of a secular outlook, notwithstanding the tall tales that the religious right likes to tell), would be unconstitutional. Christian nationalism (merging church and state), is contrary to the secular republic that the Founders established.
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Christian nationalists are currently making an all-out assault on church-state separation. The latest efforts are to pass state laws installing religious chaplains in public schools and to create publicly funded religious charter schools with the power to expel any student who does not toe the school’s religious line. See the following recent articles for further details: (1) “Putting chaplains in public school is the latest battle in culture wars,” Washington Post, March 22, 2024, https://wapo.st/3xaFh5Z (in accordance with my Washington Post subscription, the foregoing link provides access to this article for fourteen days without charge, notwithstanding the usual Washington Post paywall), and (2) “The State Superintendent at the Forefront of the GOP’s Education Crusade,” Politico, March 23, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/magazin....
For the historical, philosophical, and constitutional background of such issues and my own views regarding them, see my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience.
I am cross-filing this post in the “Education and Public Libraries” and the “Separation of Religion and Government; Liberty of Conscience and Toleration” topics of this Goodreads group.
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The foregoing is the title of the following March 16, 2024 AP article: https://apnews.com/article/trump-god-.... According to this article, the Trump Bible includes copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as a handwritten chorus of the famous Greenwood song.
Obviously, Trump (who is about as irreligious as they come) is pandering to the Christian Nationalist movement, which is intent on merging church and state.
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The title of this March 26, 2024 AP article (“With its soldiers mired in Gaza, Israel fights a battle at home over drafting the ultra-Orthodox”) indicates its content: https://apnews.com/article/israel-mil....
See also https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/ort... (this article was written during a brief period when Netanyahu was out of power), https://www.learnreligions.com/israel..., and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religio....
March 30, 2024 Update regarding Conscription of Ultra-Orthodox: See https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/....
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In a letter to Voltaire dated November 28, 1765, Empress Catherine II of Russia, wrote:
“Toleration has been established here: it is the law of the land, and persecution is forbidden. It is true that we have fanatics who, in the absence of persecution, burn themselves of their own accord. But if the fanatics in other countries did the same, this would not do much harm. The world would be only more peaceful . . . . There you have, Sir, the sentiments that we owe to the founder of this city [Peter the Great], whom you and I both admire.” (Catherine II to Voltaire, November 28, 1765, in Catherine the Great: Selected Letters, trans. and ed. Andrew Kahn and Kelsey Rubin-Detlev [Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2018], 43, Kindle)In a December 22, 1767 letter to Voltaire, Catherine wrote:
I must give the [Russian] nation its due: it is excellent soil in which good seed sprouts quickly, but we also need axioms that are indisputably recognized as true. Any others will meet with resistance. When the French translation of the principles that are to form the basis of our laws has been completed, I shall take the liberty of sending it to you, and you will see that, thanks to such axioms, this document has won the approval of those for whom it was composed. I shall venture to foretell the greatest success in this important work, since I have seen the ardour that everyone brings to its drafting. I think that you would enjoy being in an assembly where the Orthodox sits next to the heretic and the Muslim, and all three listen peaceably to the voice of an idolater, and all four often confer in order to render their views amenable to all. They have so thoroughly forgotten the custom of mutually grilling one another that, if someone were so ill-advised as to propose to a deputy that he should boil his neighbour to please the Supreme Being, I can answer for everyone that not a single one would fail to answer, “He is a man like me, and, according to the first paragraph of H. I. M.’s [Her Imperial Majesty’s] Instruction, we should do one another as much good as possible, but no evil.” (In Catherine the Great: Selected Letters, 62)I am posting this comment in both the “Catherine the Great” and “Separation of Religion and Government” topics of this Goodreads group.
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See this April 18, 2024 AP article titled “Once a fringe Indian ideology, Hindu nationalism is now mainstream, thanks to Modi’s decade in power”: https://apnews.com/article/india-elec....
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The foregoing is the title of this June 3, 2024 article: https://wapo.st/4bOGSxS. (As a result of my Washington Post subscription, the foregoing link can be accessed without charge for fourteen days, notwithstanding the usual Washington Post paywall.)
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See this June 25, 2024 AP article: https://apnews.com/article/public-rel....
Excerpts:
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday stopped what would have been the first publicly funded religious charter school in the U.S., turning back conservatives and the state’s GOP governor who have welcomed religious groups into public education.
The high court determined the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s 3-2 vote last year to approve an application by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma for the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School violates the Establishment Clause, which prohibits government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.” The ruling also says both the Oklahoma and U.S. constitutions, as well as state law, were violated. . . .
“Under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school,” Justice James Winchester, an appointee of former Republican Gov. Frank Keating, wrote in the court’s majority opinion. “As such, a charter school must be nonsectarian.
“However, St. Isidore will evangelize the Catholic school curriculum while sponsored by the state.”
The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and Diocese of Tulsa said in a statement they will “consider all legal options” in response to the court’s ruling.
The court’s decision was 7-1, with one member concurring in part and one member, Chief Justice John Kane IV, recusing himself. Justice Dana Kuehn dissented.
Five of Oklahoma’s nine Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republicans, four by Democrats.
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The foregoing is the title of this August 4, 2024 article in The Hill: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/okl....
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The following is a brief summary of this recently published book, which was authored by a person raised in the Christian evangelical community. Although Jesus famously said “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36) and although mainstream Christianity has long taken the position that revelation ceased with the original apostolic age, a new grassroots evangelical movement has evolved, against the initial opposition of established evangelical leaders, to claim direct and current revelation from God and to tout Donald J. Trump as the new “Cyrus” (the pagan king referenced in Hebrew scriptures) who will, notwithstanding his obvious immorality and scriptural ignorance, be the force that will establish a Christian kingdom to replace the government of the United States. This new movement is profoundly undemocratic and entirely contrary to the principles of the United States Constitution. Its leaders are principal religious advisers to Trump and to leading far-right figures in the U.S. Congress and elsewhere. I recommend reading this book, which is based on the author’s deep knowledge obtained by reading the religious tracts, listening to the oral presentations, and conducting interviews with the architects and currently popular “apostles” and “prophets” of this revolutionary movement Their leaders (though not entering the Capitol building) were present on January 6, 2021, to wage what they call “spiritual warfare” by praying and encouraging those who did break into the Capitol and injure more than one hundred defending police officers.
I am posting the present comment in both the “Separation of Religion and Government” and “Theocracy” topics of this Goodreads group.
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The foregoing is the title of an October 29, 2024 Washington Post article by Hannah Allam, which can be located at https://wapo.st/4hpb99y. (As a result of my Washington Post subscription, the foregoing link can be accessed without charge for fourteen days, notwithstanding the usual Washington Post paywall.)
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For one of the most bizarre manifestations of Christian nationalism, see this December 6, 2024 New York Times gift article titled “Pete Hegseth and His ‘Battle Cry’ for a New Christian Crusade”: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/us.... The media coverage of Hegseth focuses on his drinking and sexual adventures. This article discusses his support for a violent theocratic revolution. We’ll see whether the US Senate confirms Trump’s impending nomination of him for secretary of defense.
I am posting the present comment in both the “Separation of Religion and Government” and “Theocracy” topics of this Goodreads group.
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The 1925 Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee pitted fundamentalist Christians against a public school teacher who taught about the scientific basis of evolution. The Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_...) on the trial begins as follows (endnotes omitted):
The Scopes trial, formally The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case from July 10 to July 21, 1925, in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it illegal for teachers to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he incriminated himself deliberately so the case could have a defendant. Scopes was found guilty and was fined $100 (equivalent to $1,700 in 2023), but the verdict was overturned on a technicality.The trial transcript can be located at https://profjoecain.net/scopes-monkey.... The famous journalist H. L. Mencken dispatched his reports on the trial to the Baltimore Sun, and those reports, which included many scathing and sarcastic comments on the prosecutors and their small-town allies, are collected in a book titled A Religious Orgy in Tennessee: A Reporter's Account of the Scopes Monkey Trial (https://www.amazon.com/Religious-Orgy...). I recently watched the famous 1960 movie “Inherit the Wind” about the trial; it is available on Amazon Prime Video at https://www.amazon.com/Inherit-Wind-G....
The Scopes trial exhibited the conflict between science and Christian fundamentalism as it manifested itself in the early decades of the twentieth century. These events occurred before the US Supreme Court decisions requiring separation of church and state.
I haven’t yet read the transcript of the Scopes trial, but I intend to do so in the not-too-distant future.
If you can get a copy, L. Sprague de Camp’s “The Great Monkey Trial” (1968) was a highly regarded book on the subject. It has a Wikipedia article, which may help you make up your mind whether it is worth the effort. You would probably need a library, it is absurdly expensive on Amazon.The author is best known for erudite and witty science fiction and fantasy, a big role in the revival of interest in Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian, some historical fiction, and excellent non-fiction on a variety of topics, including biographies of Howard and H.P. Lovecraft.
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Thanks, Ian. It's not available on Kindle, so I'll pass. I'll get all I need from the online trial transcript and from the book containing the Mencken reports.
I gather there has been a fair amount of progress since the days of William Jennings Bryan and the Tennessee Holy Rollers. We have people saying that Trump is God's appointee, but they are (still?) a small minority.
"Inherit the Wind" (1960) with actors Spencer Tracy vs Frederick March, is of course the most celebrated dramatic recreation of the famous 'monkey trial'. Taken from the 1955 stage play of Jerome Lawrence & Edward Lee; it has been remade several times since with equally notable actors."He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind" --Proverbs 11:9
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Yep, I mentioned and linked that movie in #293, posted on February 20, 2025 (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/....)
'The Cristero War'
--an attempt by a government to eliminate religion which took place in Mexico between 1926-1929.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crister...
Lasting two years, ten months, two weeks, four days; it remains the costliest conflict in Mexican history, to date.
Rural Mexicans fought for the right to their beliefs as hadn't happened since centuries prior in Europe.
This is a phenomenon which secularism just doesn't grasp.
Regardless of how inefficient it may seem to modern 'world systems theories' --people have the right to cling to whatever belies they wish to cling to. They'll cling to their beliefs with a will.
It may seem irrational, intransigent, irascible ...but it can't be eradicated.
Mod
'The Cristero War'
--an attempt to eliminate religion which took place in Mexico between 1926 - 1929.
Lasting two years, ten months, two weeks, four days; it is the costliest conflict in Mexic..."
I was unfamiliar with this episode, so I consulted the Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crister...) on it. The details are still murky to me. However, the US Constitution’s Religion Clauses in the First Amendment state: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion [Establishment Clause], or prohibiting the free exercise thereof [Free Exercise Clause].” These constitutional provisions guarantee the separation of church and state as well as protecting religious freedom. Religious freedom does not mean the right to use government to force one’s religious views on others.
Historically, the Roman Catholic Church was heavily involved with government, but I don’t know enough about Mexican history to know whether that was the case in Mexico.
My book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience discusses these issues in the context of American and European history. It does not discuss Latin American history, and I am not very knowledgeable about same.
It is somewhat obscure history these days. I admit that.Still, rather startling to see a western-hemisphere 20th c. nation behave like Bolshevik Russia or Nazi Germany, towards its internal popular domestic religion.
Those latter cases much better documented of course. Crushing religion was one of the pillars of Hitler's agenda.
But during the heyday of the Mexican crackdown, Catholic priests were hunted across the length and breadth of the land by Mexican military forces.
Clergy were humiliated, tortured; they were forced to travel disguised; compelled to practice in secret. Churches were shuttered; doors barred.
Masses were forbidden. Clerics were sheltered in farmhouses by spiritual-minded citizens.
Lesson drawn: religion can sometimes stand as a 'last line of defense' vs authoritarianism.
It is a bedraggled and unfortunate period in history but perhaps fruitful for a scholar such as yourself who writes wide-rangingly about these topics.
When pressed, people will often fight like tigers for their faith. It is a useful illustration of 'extreme swing' to the opposite side of a theocracy.
Roger Williams took the moral teachings of Jesus very seriously, and he rarely, if ever, lost his temper. This letter was in response to the theological anarchism that his own brother, Robert, was espousing. It might be added that Robert had deprived Roger of his portion of their parental inheritance in a lawsuit in England, because Roger, a deeply religious man, refused to take a religious oath in a government court. When it came to separation of church and state, Roger practiced what he preached. His deep commitment to church–state separation resulted in his losing his personal inheritance and also resulted in his banishment from the colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1635–36.