I see it crumbling, The Wall of Separation Between Church and State

As soon as Barack Obama made history when elected as the first Black President of the United States in 2008, the rise to political prominence and strength of the newly formed Tea Party also marked the beginning of GOP’s apparent loss of control to the ultra Conservatives and religious Rights. Tea Party favorites also rose to prominence as is the case of Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Santorum and others. Not very surprisingly, Republican moderates have swung to the extreme right of the party if only to please the Tea Party and its conservative block. Soon, the political rhetoric of the Right Wing Republicans took a turn for the worst (for civil libertarians) on questions of marriage equality and civil rights, abortion, labor rights, healthcare, etc.
Being a member of the Christian faith, I have listened to our pastors as they professed the Biblical teachings on marriage, abortion and other subjects that have become hot button issues in this year’s election. With President Obama’s decision to openly declare his support to marriage equality, the topic has consumed the network roundtable discussions, blogs and opinion pages in print and on line. While supporters of marriage equality (a.k.a gay marriage) are ecstatic, people who are for DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) are livid and inconsolable. If only for that reason, Obama has lost their vote. True, President Obama has likely taken this bold step to energize Hollywood and his gay supporters’ base for his Super PAC but can I blame him? When he is faced with the avalanche of campaign money from the rival party, what is he left to do?
Despite my personal belief in the Bible’s concept of marriage, that is, a union between a man and a woman, I also believe that it is purely a personal choice and should not be legislated. The government has no business making that decision for us. God created us with a freedom to choose between right and wrong, between good and evil. While He gave us the Ten Commandments and the Bible to refer to His words and teachings, He didn’t deprive us of the opportunity to make our choices. We were told of the consequences if we did wrong but God Almighty didn’t strip us of our intellect and free will to make our choice.
When God created Adam and Eve, He provided them with everything they needed and could possibly enjoy in their paradise. But He planted a tree in their midst and told them not to eat of its fruit, which was the knowledge of good and evil. Why did God have to put that temptation before them when He could have simply made the entire place perfect and temptation-proofed as a child-proofed home when we want our kids to be safe? Couldn’t it be because He wanted to test our devotion to Him? And couldn’t it be also because He would rather have us worshipping and praising Him on our own free will than doing so because we had no other choice? Would God rather be worshipped by puppets and robots than by believers who chose to praise and worship Him because they knew that it was the right and good thing to do?
People ought to stop politicizing religious issues and Congress should be smart enough to avoid falling into this trap of treating religious questions as a question of law. God’s laws are above man’s laws but they are solely based on man’s faith in God’s divine wisdom and the knowledge that his or her rewards or punishment is certain, irrespective of place and time.
It’s time politicians and government and religious leaders stop interpreting the separation of church and state for their benefit and convenience. In affirmation of the words of America’s first Baptist church founder, Roger Williams, “a hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut, “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that 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,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Furthermore, Article VI states that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
Why doesn’t anyone see that all these fuss about prohibiting gay marriages and abortion issues are a mere challenge to the U.S. Constitution? Why can’t someone from Washington find the courage to put an end to this politics of convenience and interpret the Constitution like it really is?
I will probably be hearing from some pastors, or even from my own pastor… But hey, I’m only expressing an honest and carefully thought out opinion. It’s my job…my duty… and my God-given right.