Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

Can You Have It Both Ways? Column for the week of December 8-14, 2002

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In Montgomery Alabama, a U.S. District Judge gave Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore just 30 days to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the judicial building. Moore had the 5,300-pound granite monument installed because he feels these commandments are a moral foundation of American law. The court says this is a violation of separation of church and state.

This concept of separation of church and state always confuses me this time of year. Our government sends distinct mixed messages and there is the problem. For example, to be politically correct the government shouldn't promote one religion over another yet Thanksgiving is a national holiday. This is a day our government set aside specifically to give thanks to GOD. Here's another, government owned properties such as courthouses cannot display a nativity scene yet Christmas is a national holiday. Doesn't anyone get this connection? Christ-mass! Without the birth of Christ, the son of GOD, there would be no Christmas.

I'm also baffled when people say our founding fathers wanted a total separation of church and state. The first amendment of the Bill of Rights states:

Does this really say there is a total separation of church and state? Was that the intent when it was written? Or was it meant to be a protection for religions?

Some might say that our founding fathers were very careful not to mention God in our constitution. Well, they certainly had no problem mentioning Him in the Declaration of Independence.

Just who exactly is this God or Creator they refer to? Our history books are full of quotes of the founding fathers, historic statesmen, and presidents promoting God. Most were Christians. Benjamin Franklin, who was very skeptical of clergymen, did not share the same disdain for God. Deist Thomas Jefferson managed some pretty good quotes about God and His blessings, too. It is he who first coined the phrase church and state. And if you read carefully the history of the letter he wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association (January 1, 1802) about the first amendment, it shows that he wanted to protect religions from the state.

Now it seems we want to protect government from religion. It's a given that the majority of our founding fathers were all for Christianity, but they built this nation not so much on the Christian religion but Christian principles, such as tolerance and freedom. That's why they were always referring to God and the Bible.

There is nothing wrong with having a national religion as long as you don't force it on others. There's nothing wrong with not having a national religion, either. Unfortunately there seems to be a tug of war on this issue between the Christians and the atheists. Each fears that whoever controls the government will be imposing their views on everyone else, and unfortunately they are probably right. The problem is that our government wants to have it both ways. They say church and state are separate but they:

Are these things wrong? Not necessarily. But you can't have it both ways. Or can you? Our government seems to think you can. They just pull God out of their hip pocket every time some crisis occurs and claim to be a godly nation. That's not honoring God. That's using Him.

To be honest I have mixed views about separation of church and state. Neither has a very good track record, which is sad on both counts. Christians muddle the message of Christianity and Government has made a bureaucratic mess that would take an act of God to clean up. But if I had to vote, it would be for Christianity. Not for any specifics of various Christian religions but for Christianity in general. At least they have the believing in God part right.

©December 2002

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