Some Thoughts About Separation Of Church And State!

 

Several events, incidents, occurrences, and news articles over the last 5 or so years, and especially the last 16 months have prompted me to write on this blog about something which, so far as I remember I have never done, interactions on social media, only one kind of which I ever use or ever have.  That one type of social media is Facebook and I have been induced twice to leave it for extended periods of time, one in 2017 for the entire month of October.  Admittedly, I was on a long road trip then and didn't want the distraction.  And in the last several months, I took another month off, without ever signing on to Facebook, simply because I was sick of all their targeted and unblockable ads.  But this post is actually prompted by one little interaction I had on Facebook this morning and the recent trend in quite a few conservative churches in America, and especially in the south, to support Vladimir Putin's invasion of the totally innocent country of Ukraine.  I had noticed some of it myself and got into a series of messages with a Facebook friend in Western North Carolina who has also been very concerned about the amount of this insanity he has seen in his own area.  He sent me a link to this article about so-called "Christian" groups which have been praising Vladimir Putin.  The article talks about Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, which he now controls, and his contacts with and praise for Putin.  The article also addresses the World Congress of Families, another fairly right wing "Christian" organization which has actually partnered with Russian officials who have been sanctioned by the US government.  Please note that if you want to go to these two groups' websites to see what they believe you are free to do so.  But I have not and will not add links to those groups on this blog because of their works with or in praise of Putin and Russia which are helping him in his ultimate goal of destroying America, American Democracy, and general worldwide Democracy.  If you want to know what they think, find it yourself.  

 But, the incident on Facebook this morning involved a woman on my Facebook friends list who made a statement that she was unfriending and blocking people she referred to as "atheists" because of their beliefs.  Her actual statement was:  "unfriending multiple atheists who insist on being rude and insulting to those who believe. Not putting up with it."  I was instantly reminded of a Bible quote which I admit I had to find through a joint Google search and a search of Bible Gateway in the King James Version which is the only translation of the Bible I ever bother to read since I firmly believe that the more translations away from the KJV you get the farther you simultaneously get from the original intent of the writers of the particular book of the Bible you are reading. 

 

In the interest of honesty, I will say that I am not particularly religious although I firmly believe in some form of creation by a power greater than the ordinary humans who attempt to be the self-appointed mouthpieces of whichever "God" they believe in. I will also say, for the sake of honesty, that I have actually read the Bible thirteen times "kiver to kiver"  as the Old Regular Baptist preachers I knew in my youth used to recommend. Additionally, I have read major sections of the basic texts of several other world religions and was blessed to know a man named Dr. Billy Rojas, Ph. D. in my youth who was a history professor at Alice Lloyd College and used "The Portable World Bible" as a supplementary text in every course he taught in order to help his students understand that various religions have greatly influenced world  history over the centuries and that in many cases that influence was markedly negative just as it is in America today. 

 Now that I have prefaced what else I am about to say  the remainder of what I have to say about the adverse influence a few million people like the woman who partially prompted this writing have on the general public, let's get back to the gist of what I have to say. You will also find, if you do an honest comparison of many modern translations of the Bible, that quite often those modern translations have inserted words, phrases, and meanings into the text which are in direct conflict with the older translations and the actual meaning of the original wording of the various ancient texts on which the Bible is based. As a result, it is always best to read the Bible, any version of the Bible, with a copy of "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance" nearby. And you should always recognize, admit, and accept that there were numerous writers of the individual books of the Bible in at least three languages, on at least two continents, and at least a few hundred years apart.  The particular quote I was thinking of in regard to the aforementioned type of deliberate alteration of the Bible is:

Second Timothy KJV 2:24-26- 24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

I appended that quotation to her post along with this comment "I suspect that if you are really seriously religious you should actually do what the Bible tells you to do which seems pretty rare today from most self-described "Christians". And I'm not religious at all, but I have read the Bible and understand it well enough to confront those who claim to know but don't. Actually as I said previoiusly, I have read the entire Bible, "kiver to kiver" as my ancestors used to say thirteen times but not lately, hence the need to look those verses up.  The willingness of people today to use whatever interpretation of the Bible they like (generally their own or that of someone they like better than the Bible), can be traced to TRAITOR Trump and whatever most recent bizarre, illogical, and total unsupported by fact things he has said. Over the last 9 years especially since June 16, 2015, when TRAITOR Trump announced his delusion that he believed he was fit to become the president of the United States our country has steadily deteriorated morally and ethically while the people in the forefront of that deterioration claim they are doing what they do because of their religion which they can never seem to support with the actual words of the Bible. These self-described "Christians" have become more and more influenced by the Big Lie, actually thousands of Big Lies, from TRAITOR Trump to the degree that they believe a country and a leader, in the case of Putin and Russia, which have murdered, isolated, imprisoned, and endlessly sought to destroy Christianity is actually working to help them restore Christianity all over the world.  They also deny the fact that Putin actually stole the 2016 US election in order to install his stool pigeon, the TRAITOR Trump in the White House in order to destroy America. They also claim to believe that it will happen again in 2024.  The level of willful ignorance and willful blindness on the part of these people is astonishing to me.  I have written about that aspect of it on this blog many times but this effort to aggrandize two of the most evil men on earth despite their public crimes, violation of all ten commandments, and outright murder of at least a dozen former KGB/FSB agents who were involved in the contacts between Putin and TRAITOR Trump absolutely astounds me.  

 Anyone on earth, when confronted by some self-appointed spokesperson for "God", their individual "God", should listen to that person's arguments very closely, examine them even more closely, and never accept any of their quotes and misquotes of the Bible, or any other religious text, as "Gospel" until you have verified it with a close examination of the Bible,preferably the King James Version, since it is the oldest version  currently in widespread use in America today.  And do that examination with a jaundiced eye and "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance" in hand.  probably refer to this famous quotation from the Bible, which almost no one seems to remember today,  before shooting off your mouth:  

 5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. ⁷ But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. ⁸ Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.  (Matthew 6:5-8, KJV)

And, all of these people who claim to want to turn the United States into a "Christian Nation", especially those who claim they want to do so "because that is how it was founded" need to read some history also, accurate, factual, American History as close to the Founding Fathers as possible and realize that one of the primary reasons Americans fought for independence in the American Revolution was to end the domination of their lives by the Anglican Church, more commonly known as the Church of England, and to create a country where the practice, or lack of practice of religion of any or all kinds was solely up to the practitioner and not connected in any way to the government.  That is what is called Separation of Church and State and it was, and still is, one of the most important building blocks on which this country was built.  The fastest way to destroy democracy in America would be to allow churches, any churches, to dominate life and the government.  As soon as we force all to practice one religion over all others, or we refuse to allow anyone to practice their religion of choice, whatever that religion may be, we have begun to destroy democracy.   

"Professing" and "Practicing": Two Very Different Words

 

In American politics today and over the last 8 to 12 years, one of the most influential groups has been those who describe themselves as "Christians" or "Conservative Christians".  Yet, very rarely do any of these people describe themselves as "Practicing Christians".  And therein lies a very serious problem of religious, moral, ethical, and political dichotomy, or more bluntly, political hypocrisy.  The problem is rooted in the very basic moral, ethical, religious, and political difference between the two words "Practicing" and "Professing" as they are or can be applied to religion, theology, politics, morals, and ethics.  The Oxford Language website defines "Practicing" in this manner: "actively pursuing or engaged in a particular profession, occupation, or way of life". Their second definition of the word is this: observing the teaching and rules of a particular religion. The same Oxford Languages website defines "Professing" in this manner: claim that one has (a quality or feeling), especially when this is not the case.  Their second definition of the word "Practicing" is this:

affirm one's faith in or allegiance to (a religion or set of beliefs)".  The difference between those two definitions is at the heart of the many societal problems which are being created in America today by those self-described "Christians" or "Conservative Christians" and the Right Wing Radical Repugnican politicians they have assisted in rising to power at all levels of elected offices in America.  Most of them, if not all, are simply "Professing Christians", if they profess any beliefs at all other than their belief in the abolition of most individual constitutional rights, and they are not remotely "Practicing Christians".  Anyone, anytime, anywhere can profess to be or support anything without any attempt to practice the core tenets of whatever it is they profess.  I have written in the past on this blog about these people and the core differences between what they claim to be compared to what they actually are based on their daily efforts to destroy the US Constitution and the country which is based on that constitution.  

These people under discussion are working on a daily basis to create laws which force the government to intervene in citizens lives in areas which have clearly been forbidden to the government by the Bill of Rights and hundreds of previously approved laws based on that Bill of Rights.  They support book banning, voter suppression, governmental control of the medical decisions of citizens which have clearly been forbidden to the government for more than 200 years.  And, what they never would admit, is that based on their egregious invasions into personal rights, they are indirectly, and sometimes directly, supporting the total destruction of representative democracy in America.  They are simply using the Bible and the churches of the nation, (or at least those churches which allow them to) to abolish the concept enshrined in the Declaration of Independence that that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."  They are more than willing to completely and falsely deny the fact that no citizen can be happy, at liberty, or free to live a live based on individual rights when these people are daily working to destroy, abolish, and forever eliminate the right of those citizens to make their own decisions in their daily lives. They are brazenly denying the basic constitutional concept of Separation of Church and State.  They are literally willing to steal and abrogate anyone's freedoms whose beliefs do not support their own totalitarian beliefs.  They are the greatest danger to the perpetuation of democracy in America today. 

"The Bible Women" In Knott County KY Schools

My taste in music is quite varied although my general favorite is Bluegrass which is followed closely by classic country, classic rock and roll, jazz, blues, and classical.  I also enjoy accordion music which is odd for a die hard fan of Bluegrass.  I attribute my enjoyment of accordion music to an experience when I was in grade school at Salisbury Elementary which I have written about in two other posts.  I was in grade school from 1957 to 1964 at a time when the US Supreme Court had not taken a clear and appropriate stand in defense of the separation of church and state clause from the US Constitution.    During my entire time in elementary school, once a month every grade school in Knott County had a half day visit from two women we referred to as "The Bible Women".  They were affiliated with Camp Nathaniel in Emmalena, KY, as well as a Christian nonprofit called Scripture Memory Mountain Mission.  Let me state unequivocally from the outset that I strongly support separation of church and state no matter how much I enjoyed the "Bible Women".

Accordion Photo by Hobgoblin Music

We students always referred to these two women as Miss Eva and Miss Heibert.  I believe that Miss Eva was actually Eva Slone Lodgaard and I believe Miss Heibert's name was Alma.  If any of my readers can set me straight about the names I would appreciate it if you would send me an e-mail at rchicks@mrtc.com or in a comment on this post.  I believe we always referred to Miss Eva by that appellation because someone assumed that we could never pronounce her Scandinavian last name.  Miss Heibert played the accordion and Miss Eva always told a Bible story using a felt board.  For those of you who have never seen a felt board, it was a device which used static electricity to tell stories using a felt cover over a board on an easel and numerous felt cutout figures of people, buildings, livestock, and anything else which was pertinent to the story.   Miss Heibert would play and the students would sing along with several hymns and Miss Eva would tell her Bible story.  As a part of the work of Scripture Memory Mountain Mission, they also ran a program of Bible verse memorization that could win students a free week at summer camp at Camp Nathaniel.  This program was an escalating rote memorization of assigned Bible verses.  It began with about a half dozen verses which would win the student a New Testament and the assignments grew longer as students demonstrated from month to month that they could remember sufficient verses.  I never got much farther than the New Testament even though I had an excellent memory.  I suspect that my heart wasn't in the effort and I was more interested in many other things ranging from reading other books to catching fish, frogs, or flying squirrels.  A few students did win the trip to Camp Nathaniel each year if they worked at the task.

The "Bible Women" gave us a chance to have a half day out of our normal routine, exposed us to an instrument that most of us had never seen before, and gave us exposure to people from outside our normal circle.  I do not choose to detract from the usefulness of learning the Bible but I strongly oppose any form of religion being taught in school.  The US Constitution is clear as a bell about the separation of church and state.  It should be absolute and inviolate for all eternity despite the recent decisions of the Right Wing Radical Repugnican majority on the US Supreme Court.  One of the most important things I remember about these women is their dedication to their work.  Salisbury Elementary was located about a half mile off KY Route 7 on Salisbury Branch and there was not a good car bridge at that time for crossing Beaver Creek.  In low water and good weather, it was possible to ford the creek, drive a half mile up the C & O Railroad tracks and up the hollow.  In high water or snow, you could only get there by walking across a swinging bridge, up the railroad, across a trestle, and up the hollow.  But I do not clearly recall a time when these two women failed to appear on their appointed day if school was in session.  They would park their car at the swinging bridge, load up with the accordion, felt board, easel, and various and sundry other items they needed for that day's presentation.  Then they would walk the walk no matter how foul the weather.  

Miss Eva and Miss Heibert lived in a house they rented from a man named Elmer Morrison, Sr. which was about two miles from the school.  To my knowledge, neither of them ever married and both worked as missionaries in Eastern Kentucky all of their lives.  They also had a small lending library of Christian based books which they loaned to students who were responsible enough to return them.  You could borrow a couple of books and trade them for two more on their next monthly visit.  They would also loan books during the summer to students who were able to get to their home.  I borrowed books from them in summer for several years by walking the distance from my house to theirs.  I enjoyed the opportunity to read any kind of book and appreciated their generosity but my primary focus was not on the religious aspects of the books.  Let me say I am glad these women were a part of my childhood.  Let me also say that I am extremely glad that the US Supreme Court decided in McCollum vs Board Of Education District 71 that "religious instruction in public schools constitutes a violation of the establishment clause and therefore unconstitutional".  It was the correct decision the day it was written and it will always be the correct decision based on the Constitution.  

Luke 20: 25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.