Christian Coalition and the religious right in America...?

Question

Actively eroding separation of church and state?
Is the Christian Coalition have too mcuh vested interest in church to be politically active?
Have the religious right mis-understood their bible, which states:
"And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's and unto God the things which be God's" (Luke 20:25)?

Sigh! If only we could stop our politicians breathing 'cora'...
Silence is indeed golden...

PS very impressed by exceptionally intelligent, thought-provoking answers- I must say as your Yank-baiting snooty Englishman- I was caught quite off-gaurd. Good show old beans, say what!

Sorry these all were very good answers- so I'll have to try the American way and put it to a vote. What a novel notion- why not just let our betters think for us?

Answer 1

Anyone can get involved in politics. Even if their motivation is religion.

The separation of church and state is not intended to prevent one from having any influence on the other. That's like trying to prevent people from breathing and engaging in politics at the same time.

The point of the separation of church and state was to prevent one from becoming the other. The govt could not tell the church what to do, and the church could not impose its dogma on everyone as a matter of law.

The problem with many in the Religious Right is that they are trying to impose their religious values and beliefs on everyone as a matter of law. And that causes problems.

Answer 2

Render therefore unto Ceasar the things which be Ceaser's is in an appropriate quote. The zealots were trying to get Jesus involved against the Roman government. The Jesus character did not take the bait and said his kingdom was not of this world. If that does not support seperation of religion and state I don't know what does.

Jefferson was not the only one to use the seperation of Church and State phrase. James Madison, author of the Constitution, also used it. America was the first country to guarantee religious liberty from the state and bans against state establishment of religion or religious tests of office. Taking into account the fact that the founders came from countries with state religions, this was a step in the LEFT direction, toward a more secular plural government.

Answer 3

Will first off it seems to me that you have mis-understood the bible, more exactly you seem to have mis-understood Luke 20:56... The verse is about rendering the payment of taxes, this may bring truth to the saying "Nothing in life is certain except for death and taxes." However, it does not set a primes in the issue of separation of church and state.

Here's a thought... if true democracy represents the will of the people, and its the will of the people to be of a certain religion, then why can't they by democratic ways influence the government... Are you to say that do to their religion, they should have no voice, no rights, no vote?

Answer 4

Yes, we, as Christians, need to render unto Ceasar, but we are also commanded to be salt & light, to be in the world but not of it. That means we need to be politically active & remind people of our heritage. Our faith is a part of us. It cannot be checked in at the door of the courthouse or the schoolhouse.

Separation of church & state is a myth. Our founding fathers didn't want a state religion, as in Britain, so they wrote in freedom of religion as part of the 1st Amendment. You have the right to worship anyway you choose, as long as it doesn't threaten someone else.

The Christian Coalition has made some mistakes, so it has been weakened. Sadly, we have too many sheep in our flocks. Christians need to vote people into office that follows a solid moral compass. Putting your finger out into the wind will get you lost. If we don't start standing up now for our rights, our nation will go down, like the Roman Empire.

Answer 5

I think to a certain extent it does erode separation of church and state and I'm a Born-again Christian. I am in favor of abortions for victims of incest and rape and also no same-sex marriage but I think civil unions are fine. I also feel President George W. Bush capitalized on his being a born-again Christian to win the votes of the religious right but they are dissolusioned w/him because he has cursed when a microphone can pick it up and he lied about one thing he said he was never arrested to a reporter during the 2000 Presidential campaign when in fact years ago he was arrested for DUI but was not convicted of the crime.

Answer 6

All one has to do is to keep a list of Clergy abuse to understand that the Christian Coalition and the Religious Right ought to clean up their religious institutions and organizations first before they even dare preach morality to the Public and appear credible:

http://rick-ross.org/groups/clergy.html

Answer 7

The "separation of church and state" is not in the constitution, but was taken out of context from a Thomas Jefferson statement (by communist liberals who want a godless country). Its original meaning was that government should not be allowed to limit people's religious beliefs, which IS in the constitution. And the Luke quote is also taken out of context; Jesus was talking about taxes, not that all religion in government should be wiped out.