Religion and Government Cannot be Separated

Submitted by Richard Eason (Australia), Dec 18, 2002 at 23:19

The real problem is not PBS. The real problem is the US mythology that religion and government can be separated. Three propositions prove the point.

(1) All nations must have laws.
(2) All laws try to restrain some "evil", or reinforce some "good" (so all law, even administrative law, is enacted morality).
(3) All morality depends on beliefs that cannot be subjected to the scientific method and are, thus, religious beliefs - even if they are non-theistic.

So government is the process of legislating someone's religious beliefs. The vital question is whose religious beliefs should underpin our law and government?

Having based its law and government on biblical Christianity from about the 2nd century, Great Britain pioneered modern freedom and justice. The resultant biblical world view produced the scientific breakthroughs of the 17th century and led to the Agrarian, Industrial, Medical and Transport revolutions in England.

So by basing its government on biblical Christianity, Great Britain gave the modern world freedom, justice and prosperity. No other religion has given the world anything like it. Early Americans knew this and extended mankind's progress even further.

Today, however, the US imagines that "the will of the people" can form the basis of government that is separated from religion. But because law is always based on religion, the US myth creates a vacuum into which assertive religions try to move. Why - because only the Christian majority ... believe that they can "keep religion out of politics".

Some time ago, I had a book published on this subject entitled "Playing God", which is still available for about US$20.

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