Other Viewpoints: Church and state still a struggle

It’s funny how a person goes through life making decisions based upon certain beliefs or ideas, yet unaware of where those ideas came from, and of what their consequences might be.

Such is often the case with the idea of keeping church and state separate, an idea worth mentioning as 2017 draws to a close, because this year was the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic clergyman, is credited with kicking off the Reformation in 1517 with his “95 Theses,” an argument for a house-cleaning of what he considered corruptions within the Roman Catholic Church. In a nutshell (and probably an over-simplification), the main idea which Luther opposed was the Church’s insistence that it alone was the last word in spiritual matters, and thus was an essential intermediary between God and mankind. Luther, and others who receive less attention, insisted that Scripture could be interpreted by individuals, and that no earthly institution was needed in man’s relationship with God.

That was a bombshell in its day because it went immediately to the question of who really had authority in this world: kings, or popes? In other words, that Reformation idea was spiritual in its origins, but quickly became political in its arguments. And in becoming political, it opened a can of worms involving armies, national boundaries, money, and definitions and practices of Christianity itself.

In fact, Europeans spent the next 500 years killing each other in large and small ways sorting out the problems set up by the Reformation. Luther himself insisted that since church and state had different purposes, they should remain strictly separate. However, while still a pastor, he wasn’t shy about supporting the state’s life-or-death authority over peasants who revolted against the prince.

America’s Founding Fathers were deeply knowledgeable about European history and the ideas involved, and their opinions were varied. But one thing they were certainly aware of; mixing religion and politics hadn’t worked real well thus far in human history.

In our own time we see leftovers of this intense conflict in such things as IRS rules which prohibit churches from engaging in political campaigns, on-going disagreements as various religious leaders and movements continue to try for their piece of the political power- and-money pie, an obvious split between those liberals who make room for atheism in their beliefs (or non-beliefs), and those conservatives who use religious faith as the foundation of all politics, political issues such as prayer in public schools, public support of private religious schools (reportedly one likely outcome of the current tax-reform effort), Christmas displays in public spaces, political candidates seeking approval from religious leaders, etc.

In fact, while bloodshed is minimal nowadays, the argument over separation of church and state is alive, powerful, and emotional. We’re at least 500 years into this one idea and still willing to fight about it, particularly with sneaky legislation. All while an answer from history is writ plainly before us, if only we would learn it.