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Cedarville Magazine
Religious Freedom and American
History: Reasons to Thank God
by Mark Caleb Smith
When the United States
Supreme Court begins a
new session, the Marshal
of the Court solemnly
intones:
“All persons having
business before the
honorable, the Supreme
Court of the United
States, are admonished to
draw near and give their
attention, for the Court
is now sitting. God save
the United States and this
Honorable Court!”
The last sentence jars modern ears, but “God” regularly inhabits the
trappings of our federal government. Our currency reads, “In God We
Trust.” Our presidents, by tradition, take the Oath of Office on a Bible and
conclude it with the phrase, “So help me God.” Congress opens its sessions
with prayer.
Competing Visions
We have a long history of “civil religion,” but it would be a mistake to
ascribe these instances to mere ceremony. Our founders valued religion for
very particular reasons. George Washington, in his Farewell Address, said:
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,
religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
Like many, but not all, of his generation, Washington believed religion
was the foundation of morality and that our government, to be successful,
required a moral people. As such, those who wrote and ratified the
Constitution wanted to protect religious freedom. For them, there was no
conflict between that desire and government’s ability to favor religion, either
through ceremony, symbolism, or, in some instances, actual policies. The
government could fund military chaplains, for example, and stay within the
parameters of the First Amendment as long as it did not choose a particular
church or sect to favor.
Thomas Jefferson thought differently. He argued, in his famous letter to
Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut, for a “wall of separation between church
and state.” While Jefferson’s wall was not absolute, he thought separating
the two institutions and, to a degree, religion and politics, would promote
political freedom and protect individual conscience.
These somewhat competing visions, which are still with us, have defined
how our nation perceives religious freedom, especially within the context
of politics. Some, like Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, see it as a
mechanism by which the religious are free to influence government and
where government may favor religion in certain circumstances. Others,
like Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, see religion’s influence on government,
and vice versa, as a source of conflict.
A Christian Response
As America becomes more diverse,
questions of religious freedom will
only mount. The Supreme Court, as it
makes critical decisions about the First
Amendment’s precise contours, will
continue as the epicenter of strife. As
Christians examine this reality, we should
keep two things in mind.
First, wemust keep a healthy perspective.
We enjoy an enormous amount of religious
liberty. Americans are free to worship any
god or no god. Christians are free to share
their beliefs with very few constraints. We
can organize, lobby, run for office, and vote
for whomever we wish. Christians can buy
or run radio and TV stations, newspapers,
magazines, websites, and blogs. We are free
to have religious schools, like Cedarville
University. By any measure, we have
significant religious freedom, and we
should regularly thank God for it.
Second, we should remember that
through debate, disagreement, and
discussion, we have an opportunity to
reveal Christ to the political and legal
worlds. Winning an argument, a case, or
an election may provide a respite for our
weariness, but we are called to witness
even through the manner in which we do
these things. To paraphrase Christ, what
does it profit a people to assert their rights,
but while doing so to lose their souls? We
must prove ourselves worthy ambassadors
regardless of our successes or failures. This
is our greatest challenge.
Mark Caleb Smith
is an Associate Professor
of Political Science and Director of the
Center for Political Studies at Cedarville.
He received a master’s degree from Trinity
Evangelical Divinity School and a master’s
and Ph.D. fromThe University of Georgia.
