Divided by God, by Noah Feldman
Divided by God is a brief history of many of the
conflicts that have arisen in our country over the relationship between church
and state. A repeating theme is that when the government refuses to distinguish
one religion over another, over time the two seem to assimilate toward each
other -- the melting pot theory at
work.
In the beginning, most Americans
belonged to one of various protestant sects, but those sects were so different
that they couldn't even imagine cooperating with each other on religious
grounds. They had often been horribly persecuted for their variations on the
protestant theme, and were deeply suspicious of government interference in their
spiritual lives.
Most of our early
presidents were Deists: They believed that God must have created the universe,
but that there was no divine intervention after the original design.
America is based on protection of
freedoms. As our religious base has become ever more diverse, it becomes even
more important to not impose the will of the majority -- or an agreeable
coalition -- to restrict reasonable rights of minority
groups.
There are a great many laws in
America that are difficult to defend without leaning on religion, such as laws
against bigamy or homosexuality, and probably abortion or euthanasia as well.
Filed Tue - February 7, 2006, 05:48 AM in
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