COMMENTARY: Church and State: Separate Yes, But Also Good Friends
By Stephen N. ReedSpecial to Huntington News Network
As many people are settling in for the most spiritually-celebrated time of the calendar year here, let's hope that people of all faiths and beliefs can let others enjoy their holiday. If most of us have this ability already, perhaps we should thank George Washington and the founding fathers.
The founding fathers of this country were in general agreement about tolerance of religion--giving freedom of any form of religious expression a high priority in the Bill of Rights--as well as a general embrace of all those religions that served a constructive purpose for the new nation.
That's right--an embrace of religious institutions. Not an outright marriage between a specific church and state -- the founders had their fill of that with the Church of England.
But those who wanted our country to start off on a strong course knew that any religious institutions which exhorted to their adherents in the following ways were quite valuable to the life and development of the new republic:
* Preached the development of good character in each individual;
* Stressed personal responsibility;
* Emphasized the value of being good citizens and obeying the civil law as long as the law was truly just;
* Took moral positions against society's ills,
* Encouraged the fundamental building block of society, the family, by giving moral and, when necessary, financial support to young families.
Quite simply, the government, especially back in 1789, could not do everything to help support a just and enlightened society. As just one example, police could not be on every street corner, keeping the peace.
The federal, state, and local governments then -- as now -- needed help. That is why charitable donations to religious and other non-profit organizations are exempt from taxation: we have seen the wisdom of encouraging the work of such institutions.
Instinctively, we know what the founding fathers knew: whether or not we agree with a given sect's doctrine, we could use their help at creating decent, law-abiding citizens who care about their communities.
Does this have to take the form of government handouts to faith-based institutions? There are some good arguments on both sides of that issue, but fundamentally, a religious institution need not have the government's money to at least strive to do their mission. Look how many years the Salvation Army has thrived without government handouts.
Part two of this commentary will be featured in tomorrow's HNN.