Republican party members of county in Idaho are attempting to create a non-binding pieve of legislation that would formally declare Idaho a Christian State among the United States of America. This means that the law would do nothing more than call Idaho a Christian State and that the meaning and interpretation of laws would not change. If this proposal is made into reality is would see out that Idaho be "’formally and specifically declared a Christian state,’ guided by a Judeo-Christian faith reflected in the U.S. Declaration of Independence where all authority and power is attributed to God, the resolution reads.”
The proposal has no doubt sparked controversy in Northern Idaho, where the proposal was introduced. Supporters on one side favor the idea because they believe that Christianity is under "strident attack", saying that this is so due to a lack of public Christian traditions in public places such as schools. They believe that this bill will return to the religious values touched upon in the early documents of the founding fathers. Jeff Tyler, a supporter of the bill stated that “We're a Christian community in a Christian state and the Republican Party is a Christian Party, ... It's important that Christians stand up and be unashamed to say they're Christians." Among the committee where the proposal was put forward there are members who do not support the bill but are worried of being labeled anti-Christian by the largely Republican, Christian populace.
This article comes from the Huffington post, a decidedly liberal leaning publication, and so some of these claims I’m sure should be taken with a grain of salt, however the quotes of interviewed citizens speak for themselves and testify to the true insanity of this proposal. For one, this nation was founded not on christianity, and not on religion at all but on secularism and freedom of religion. Traces of the idea of church and state separation are littered throughout the declaration of independence and the constitution, and JFK made efforts to separate church and state. America is not a Christian nation, and to call Idaho a Christian state, when 18% of the populace reports being unaffiliated with religion, it is not constitutional nor correct in simple fact. The founding fathers may have had their religion, but they had no will to place the label on other people and it seems that the supporters of this bill believe that America was founded on the basis of Christianity, when this truly seems to be their own romantic idealism. Another quote regarding this bill that I find ludicrous is by Jeff Tyler, who claims that the Republican party is a Christian party. It is not however. While a majority of republicans may be christian, the central part of Republican ideology is small government, and even this is a bit too specific. If a person says they are republican, they are, and they do not have to be christian or any religion at all for that matter. Another comment of Tyler’s, that it’s important that Christians stand up for their religion, is similarly weak in supporting this proposal. I 100% agree that Christians should not have to be afraid nor ashamed of expressing their religion, however this proposal is doing more than that, implying that Christians should impose their name on all of the state. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists and everything in between should not have any shame in expressing their ideals, however this proposal does the contrary and places a religion as a defining factor of the state when there is so much more that defines a population. A Republican opponent of the bill, Bjorn Handeen says it best by saying “ I’m not in favor of dividing us by religion; I'm in favor of uniting us by freedom,". This is exactly how I feel about this situation. Labeling an entire state as christian just because a simple majority of Christians makes up the populace does not defend freedom or the ideals of the founding fathers.
What is your opinion on the issue? Is labeling a state officially under a certain religion okay if it has no legal effect on the state? Do you think this is what the founding fathers would have wanted, given their own religions?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/24/idaho-christian-state_n_6747826.html
8 comments:
Ryan, I totally agree with your view on this issue. It’s pretty unbelievable that Idaho lawmakers would like to declare Idaho a Christian state. It seems to go against everything America stands for, as you pointed out, secularism and freedom of religion. It’s really a shame that there exists a group of people who believe that this is good idea. The fact that they believe that Christianity is under attack is laughable. 75% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. Although they have a problem with the elimination of Christian traditions from public places such as schools, it would be incredibly unethical and unfair to continue such traditions in our modern society. While Christians are the majority, there are plenty of other beliefs out there, and to force everyone to partake in Christian traditions is ridiculous. I highly doubt that Idaho is currently 100% Christian, and will be for the foreseeable future. How can Idaho lawmakers feel that it would be right to label their state Christian when there are already plenty of people with different beliefs living in the state? None of what they are saying makes any sense to me, and I would bet the founding fathers would be appalled by their actions. It would set a dangerous precedent to officially declare a state a certain religion. The United States must remain tolerant of all ideas and beliefs, that is what the founding fathers would really want.
I totally agree with you Ryan. The concept of this proposal is simply unacceptable in a nation that proudly boasts of freedom of religion. While it may seem like a simple label, in reality it has tremendous implications for the relationship between the church and state. As you mentioned, our nation is not founded on a single religion, but is rather something completely separate. In the colonial period, the territories that would eventually become our nation were widely divided by religious faith. Pennsylvania provided a place for Quakers, Maryland for Catholics, Virginia for Anglicans, Massachusetts for Puritans, etc. Intolerance for different religions was a central dividing factor among the states; it even led to some citizens being booted from their homes for promoting different beliefs. Anne Hutchinson and her support of antinomianism, which challenged the strong authority of the church in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, led to her to be tried and found guilty of heresy followed by her immediate banishment from the colony. Similarly, Roger Williams, also of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, had the nerve to promote the separation of church and state in order to provide each individual with religious freedom. Such an audacious concept got him removed from the state as well, eventually leading to his foundation of Rhode Island.
Our nation did not adopt the belief that a region should be labeled by a religion. Instead, according to the First Amendment each American citizen has the right to express whatever religious faith he or she desires. By labeling a state by a religion the government would limiting this freedom, making those who do not share such a religion feel uncomfortable and out of place. While many of our Founding Fathers may have been Christian, this does not mean that we are a Christian Nation. The separation of church and state has been a major part of American government since its start. In fact, the Father of the Constitution, James Madison, was a major proponent for the division between faith and governance. Influenced by John Locke’s writings, Madison held that promotion of any religious sect was outside the proper functioning capacities of the limited government he hoped to establish. Madison’s views even manifested themselves in the First Amendment in which he recorded,”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Overall, this shows that not only is this proposal of creating a “Christian state” an insult to our nation’s history, but it also falls in direct violation to the First Amendment. Defying this fundamental principle our Founding Fathers’ clearly and definitively established will only lead to further conflict between different sects and an increased chance of religious persecution. As Thomas Jefferson once said in one of his letters,“...legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”
Sources:
http://www.ushistory.org/us/3e.asp
https://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt1afrag1_user.html
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/sepchust.htm
I agree with all of the points that have been made. This proposal is pretty ridiculous and hard to believe. American is supposed to be a place where people of all religions can live in the same place and follow their beliefs. We are also not supposed to judge people based on their beliefs because of this freedom that we preach in this country. I think that no state should be officially under a religion even if it has no change in law or treatment for the people in this place. This would send the completely wrong message to the people of Idaho and he people of the United States as a whole. These names that are given to the states have not changed since they were brought into the United States, and there is really no reason whatsoever to change the names some of which that have been around since the start of the United States. Thus is definitely not something that the founding fathers would have wanted. The state of Idaho is nowhere near being completely Christian, even though a large percentage of the population is Christian. What are the people in Idaho who are not Christian going to do if this gets passed? To me this whole idea makes no sense whatsoever and is probably the most ridiculous proposal that I have seen in a long time. The United States was founded on freedom including religious freedom and we need to uphold these ideas.
As the others in this thread have said, this proposal goes against the very ideals that our nation was built upon. To officially identify a state with any one religion is a dangerous step towards a theocracy - something our founding fathers tried tirelessly to avoid. The very man who wrote the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, once stated, "I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another." Therefore, the belief that the Founding Fathers would support a measure to create a Christian state is utterly absurd. As for Christianity being under "strident attack", the lack of Christian traditions being taught in public schools is nothing more than a byproduct of a secular society. Quite frankly, Christianity, or any religion for that matter, has no place in the public educational system. The United States is currently in the unenviable position of being near the bottom of the list of industrialized nations when it comes to teaching evolution in our public schools. As a consequence, at least half of adults outright embrace creationism and reject evolution. How can a scientifically illiterate nation compete in global market? What can be said for the future of a nation that accepts the intertwining of state and religion? One must only look at the rise of the Taliban in 1996 and the recent expansion of ISIS in Iraq to know the answer to this question.
Ryan, this is an interesting topic and I agree with you and others who have been saying that it is not acceptable to label a state with a religion. There are so many problems in the country and the world already, and by labeling a state with a religion, it really seems like another problem is being created for no real reason. The country's attention needs to be on other issues and not on the problems this will cause. An article on The Washington Post that I read stated that "Seniors are three times more likely than young Americans to claim a religious affliation...". As we have talked about in class, young people generally do not participate in politics as much as older people and I wonder if the proposal of this law is a specific example of the result of that. Clearly anyone of any age can be for or against this law, but the relationship in still interesting. Here is the link for the article that I read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/02/26/the-religious-states-of-america-in-22-maps/
Ryan,
It seems to be that the people in Idaho seem to have forgotten the whole idea of separation of church and state. Furthermore, the United States prides itself on religious diversity; by enabling this, a person can wonder what will happen next. The Constitution allows for the freedom to practice any religion and making a state a Christian state will be infringing on that right. I do not that think that it is a wise idea to mix church and state together. What is best for religion is not necessarily best for the people of the state. If 18%, or about 1/5 of the people do not even follow a religion, they will feel out of place in their own home. No matter what the scenario, Idaho should never have considered calling their state officially Christian. On paper it might not have a legal affect but I think later on it definitely will be. I also agree on all of your claims on the ridiculousness of what the politicians said. I do not think this is what the founding fathers of this country would have wanted. There is a reason why the separated church and state all those years ago and propagated the freedom of religion. History has shown the negative consequences of putting religion and politics together and in this melting pot of a country it would have even worse affects.
Ryan,
I agree with you and most of our other classmates here. You can be proud to be a Christian and be happy about it, but it is not okay to try and label an entire state as Christian. Even if the population is largely republican, in my opinion it is not okay to label an entire state as such. The fact that 18% of the population of Idaho does not identify with the faith at all should be reason in itself to not propose such an idea. JFK was right in separating state from church, because America was not founded on Christianity. While I realise that there is some correlation between religion and political ideology, there is certainly not enough to combine them into one. I, for one, am a Christian, but I’m certainly not a Republican, and it’s not fair to try and label people any way for their religion (or lack thereof). Freedom of religion is an ideal that America was founded on, and that needs to be continued to be reinforced. I have absolutely no problem with the Christians in Idaho proudly supporting their religion and speaking out, because that’s what the freedom of religion means. But to label people that don’t identify with the faith as from a “Christian state,” where is the freedom for that 18%? If there is freedom to practice any religion, there also must be freedom to not practice a religion. I think that this proposal is absolutely absurd and just shows the close-mindedness that some people have when they act based on their beliefs and not consider the situation as a whole. While labeling Idaho as a Christian state would not have any legal effect, I think this is more about the ideology behind it, and the fact that legislators would go so far as to label a state with a certain religion that 18% of the population does not identify with. Although the founding fathers had their own religions, I think that this is not something that they would condone. Freedom of religion means everyone can express their values, and calling Idaho a Christian state would deny the 18% to properly express their views.
I agrees with your view on the issue Ryan. It is pretty unbelievable that Idaho lawmakers would like to declare Idaho a Christian state. This idea proposed to Idaho is ridiculous when we proudly exemplify freedom of religion. Our nation is not founded on a single religion, but is rather something completely separate. Our nation did not adopt the belief that a region should be labeled by a religion. American is supposed to be a place where people of all religions can live in the same place and follow their beliefs.The Constitution allows for the freedom to practice any religion and making a state a Christian state will be going completely against that. How could we make Idaho a Christian state, when almost 20 percent of that state is unidentified. We can not conform people to a certain religion. The United States must remain tolerant of all beliefs and religions, if we want to keep our tradition and the words of our founding fathers we need to stay true to our word.
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