October 14, 2012
56-091 Paper Rough Draft
Dividing Church and State
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment”. This is a verse from the book of Romans in the bible implying that all governments are formed by god and therefore should be followed diligently. In the 1600’s England’s population consisted mainly of Christians, so all others who believed in worshiping god in another way were condemned to this phrase from the bible. “The religious persecution that drove settlers from Europe to the British North American colonies sprang from the conviction, held by Protestants and Catholics alike, that uniformity of religion must exist in any given society. This conviction rested on the belief that there was one true religion and that it was the duty of the civil authorities to impose it, forcibly if necessary, in the interest of saving the souls of all citizens.” The churches ruled society at this time and so governments were the ones to lead the attack against this minority. The eventual migration away from England bore the idea that America was a safe haven for individuals to practice religion without penalty. When framing the guidelines of this country, many of our founding fathers took no interest in repeating history by restricting religious practices. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..". They intended to create a country where the government had no say in such personal matters and strove to give every citizen the right to practice in whatever they believed in. Nevertheless, in today’s society we see many examples of religion intruding into state and national government. In state funded public schools, children are required to reference that the nation is under god before they start the day. Our national anthem mentions "This be our motto-'In god we trust". Even the leader of our nation gets inducted into office by placing his right hand on a bible and concludes his vow with ‘So help me God’. We live in a melting pot of many different religions and faiths that deserve to be respected in a manner that doesn't force others religious views into their everyday life. America was founded upon principals of freedom in personal choice, to integrate church and state would go against everything that we stand for and destroy the integrity of one of the greatest nations in the world.
Religion has no valid reason to interfere with government policies. It is a personal choice to follow and therefore should be practiced in a way that doesn’t offend or intrude on other people’s livelihood. The debate over stem cell research is one that has caused an uproar in recent society due to the discontinuation of technological advances. Stem cell research can potentially help treat a range of medical problems. The research could cure a number of diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s as well as play a major role towards the treatment of cancer. It could benefit the human race by curing heart disease, diabetes and reduce strokes. The research could even aid to spinal cord injuries and repair or replace damaged organs. Stem cell research would allow help for birth defects for families welcoming a new member. “Better treatment of these diseases could also give significant social benefits for individuals and economic gains for society”. The only thing holding this evolutional change back is the biased opinion of many religious figures that believe humans should not be playing god. Instead of advancing our human race and potentially saving millions of lives, some people believe have the medieval perception that we should not mess with human life. “but Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men.” This violation of church and state has a direct effect on