A Necessary Wall

A Necessary Wall

The “genius” of the American experiment in leaving England was to find a place where the state did not tell the churches what to do. We call that today “religious freedom.” One of our favorite expressions is a “city on a hill,” which means mostly an example of religion without state interference.

Perhaps the most influential (and image-setting) architect was Roger Williams. He left England as a Puritan in quest of powers that did not intrude upon the conscience of a Puritan. This man with a solid reputation quickly found himself trouble with the authorities in Salem Massachusetts so he ventured away, lived with Indians, and then found his way to what is today called Providence Rhode Island where he purchased land from the Narragansett Indians. He returned to England for permission to found Providence.

What Williams was seeking was freedom and “soul liberty,” and for his day he  was radical. This is discussed in brief in Randall Balmer’s new, inexpensive and exceptional study, Solemn Reverence. His book explains the development of separation of church and state. The words of Williams matter in that he was the one who spoke of “the hedge or wall of separation between the garden of church and the wilderness of the world.”

The issue is clear and simple: the more the State intrudes or the more the church permits or invites the State to intrude or the more the church seeks to adjust to the powers the more “the faith would be trivialized or fetishized.” Balmer’s right. What happens when the State and church mix is that the faith suffers. This happens in extreme ways – as in the German Christians – and in less extreme ways – as in currying favor from the president, a senator, a representative, a governor for church benefits. Mixtures contaminate the church. Balmer has long argued that church works best on the margins not in the seats of power.

Where is the state intruding today?

Where is the church intruding today?

What is their impact on the church today?

The quest, since Reagan especially, for evangelical “influence” in the state contaminates the church. The architects here were James Kennedy, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Francis Schaeffer and others. Their zeal has not helped evangelicalism.

A complement to Roger Williams was William Penn who had a stronger vision for the Middle Colonies even than Williams.

The aim of the American experiment, not always realized of course, was religious tolerance. What happened was that various Colonies got overly connected to various religious faiths – from Catholics in Maryland to Anglicans in Virginia. Those in power did not always practice tolerance and thus tolerance was tested over and over. But Rhode Island’s “lively experiment” and Pennsylvania’s “holy experiment” express the genius of America’s conviction of religious tolerance. They contributed then to the eventual formation of the First Amendment, that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

A recent Supreme Court decision about California was the newest official statement. In WaPo, Robert Barnes wrote with obvious disapproval:

“The Supreme Court’s order late Friday night that California must allow churches to resume indoor worship services reveals a conservative majority that’s determined to guard religious rights and is more than willing to second-guess state health officials, even during a pandemic.

Under restrictions imposed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), almost all of the state was under an order to ban indoor religious services as officials battle the raging coronavirus pandemic. It is the nation’s most severe restriction, and the court said in an unsigned opinion that it violates the Constitution.

Instead, the justices impose their own rule: The state must allow indoor services but may limit attendance at 25 percent capacity. The court left in place — for now — a ban on singing and chanting at those events, activities the state said were particularly risky for spreading the coronavirus.”

We have tested our ability to religious tolerance and today is one of those days.