The current state of separation of church and state

As were our Baptist forefathers, so am I a proponent of the free exercise of religion – that is, in regard to state interference in it (we are not free from God). However, I think that oft times in the modern U.S., our first amendment has been stood on its end, making it an enemy of religion rather than a friend. This reason for this is that secularism often functions in the place of a state-adopted religion.

When secularism functions as the state religion, then it is given preference over religion under the guise of separation. That sends a message to all residents of the United States that non-religious secularism is better than religion. If you are not a religion, then we will give you this, and support you in that. If you are a religion, we will shut you out.

By not adopting a state religion, the United States has on the other hand developed a religion of state, a secular type of “religious non-religion” that functions as religion. There is no way our forefathers could have foreseen this. They set the constitutional idea of freedom of religion in place in a culture saturated with a Judeo-Christian ethic. In practice, Christianity often functioned beneath the surface as the de facto “state religion” without it being established as such – simply because of the large number of people who were Christians, at least functionally, or at least accepted the general principles found in the Bible as legitimate and good. We are no longer there.

Over the years, secularism has taken over as a de facto state religion with Christianity incrementally being rooted out of the public square. In our current applications of state religion, any “moral” philosophy that claims to arise from some source other than “religion” is given preference or ascendancy over any moral philosophy that rises from a religious base. Therefore, very truly the state functions in supporting one (yes, establishing secularism to function as religion) while opposing the other (actual religion).

I see the problem, but do not have the answer for it. Perhaps we are beyond implementing any answer even if we had one. Perhaps it will “solve itself” (and perhaps not in the way we might prefer). It seems likely that we have reached a time and place in the history and culture of the United States where there is going to be a separation of those who are heart Christians and those who are nominal Christians.

“So there was a division among the people because of him” [i.e., Jesus Christ]. John 7:43.