Forgive this poor Australian for entering into the Sphere of American Politics, but while our two cultures and political systems are different, we are both facing a losing battle with the forces which want our current ways of life to disappear.
I'm not actually going to personally discuss the issue of whether 'Religious Icons' should or should not be allowed in Public Places, but instead want to bring to your attention some rather interesting articles related to the matter, that are worthy of some reflection.
The first article: Turning Faith Into Elevator Music By William J. Stuntz, advocates that Christians not fight against those who wish to remove Christian Religious Icons (remembering that Moses and the Ten Commandments are Jewish).
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| Where the State ensures that the Church has no influence, it controls it - Yichang China |
The reasoning behind the argument is that if everyone has the right to promote their religion publicly, then we could end up with more than Judeo/Christian public Icons. You can let your imaginations run wild in conjuring up the types of Icons that could appear.
Here are two excepts from the article.
So we are left with a paradox. Those who advocate the separation of church and state are trying to impose Jesus's teachings on their community -- and if this doesn't violate the separation of church and state clause of the Constitution, what would?
Symbols like the ones the Supreme Court haggled about give the impression that Christianity and the government are somehow in cahoots with each other. That's a dangerous impression, and a false one. It's a small step from the idea that the government endorses Christianity to an idea that is much worse: that Christianity endorses the government. Christians are the big losers in that transaction.
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| Despite all controls, the Church will triumph and grow - Chibi City (PuQi) Hubei. |
Now having in this article set the path for abandoning the public use of Christian Religious Icons, it makes fascinating reading to then proceed on to read another article.
In the article entitled: Who Separated Church and State? By Lee Harris 07/01/2005 the author points out, that the Separation of Church and State is the key foundation of Christianity as founded by Jesus himself, and that those who insist upon such a state of affairs, are in fact directly enforcing 'Christian Principles'.
The author points out the irony of a situation in which those who are dedicated to totally separating Church and State, are in fact, directly following the precepts and commands of Jesus, for until his time, the State and the Church were in fact one.
They can be seen therefore to be pushing a religious principle, and thus can be seen to be arguing against themselves.
Here is an excerpt.
In short, Jesus separated church from state, and assigned to each its own proper sphere and domain.
This conclusion leaves the advocates for the separation of church and religion with a rather embarrassing dilemma. It was Jesus and Jesus alone who came up with a religion that insisted that the church and the state must be kept clearly separate. No one else taught this doctrine before Jesus did, and not many would teach it after him. The essential points of the Ten Commandments are shared by a myriad of different cultures; but the separation of church and state is a purely Christian idea, far more unique to it than the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation or the Virgin Birth -- themes that have abounded in other religions that did not insist on keeping church and state separate.
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| Banishment and control will never remove God from their hearts - Chibi town Hubei China. |
Having looked at the issue from two different perspectives, it is interesting to then read the article entitled:
Christianity, Democracy, and Iraq by Dave Miller, Ph.D.
The author points out not only that The United States is not a Democracy, but that it ought not to be.
He states that America is a republic whose success is both in accordance with the founding father's wishes, and as promised by the God under whom the country was founded and to whom it was committed.
Some excerpts:
The average American appears to believe that America's prosperity was the inevitable result of our democratic approach to governing.
The Bible claims that national existence is dependent on commitment to the instructions, directives, and moral principles of God's Word (Psalm 33:12).
What about the Founders? Did they claim that national success was dependent on 'democracy', 'free enterprise', 'free elections', and 'freedom'? Absolutely not. In the first place, they did not claim to be establishing a 'democracy.'
Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence, insisted: 'Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments' (as quoted in Steiner, 1907, p. 475,).
The theme throughout all three articles, is the current and sustained attack on Christian society by Non-Christians, and as pointed out in the last article, it is not democracy which elevates a nation, but its' adherence to God. (Miller also suggests that this is the reason why recent Russian democracy has failed).
Western societies pride themselves on their 'rule of law', but those who seek to rid us of relationship with God, seek ultimately the 'rule of the Anti-Christ!' (Pun Intended!)
R.P. BenDedek
Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com
R.P. BenDedek is the pseudonym of an Australian who has been teaching in China since 2003. In addition to contributing to Magic City Morning Star News as a columnist, he is also the Temporary Voluntary Editor of this Newspaper.
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Additionally, BenDedek is the author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' at www.kingscalendar.com and has published at Magic City, Nineteen Chapters of his autobiographical book "Finding Myself in China' .
