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When discussion of the relationship between religion and politics
is focused exclusively upon the separation of church and state, the
impression is given that the predominant relationship between religion
as a whole and the political life as a whole is one of separation.
In the long run this negative approach tends to defeat the deeper
interests of Protestants in combatting the secularization of American
culture. As Thomas Keehn and Kenneth Underwood point out, uThe
clearest indication of this danger is the alliance which some Prot
estants have made with secular and conservative forces in support
of the ‘wall of separation’ doctrine. What the secularists want is a
state which is avowedly free from all religious pretensions and a so
ciety in which religion is limited to private life. Protestants are thus
encouraged to revert to their worst selves—to a negative, irresponsible
program based upon an individualistic ethic.”34
Clearly, there is need for a careful examination of the meaning of
the concept of separation of church and state, and there is need to
seek out ways in which religious forces can cooperate across church
and even faith lines in the effort to achieve common goals and ends.
Only thus can secularism be effectively combatted and the forces of
religion be effectively marshaled in the struggle for such common
objectives as social justice and the strengthening of the foundations
of peace.
RECOMMENDED READINGS
Barth, Karl,
Against the Stream,
London, Student Christian Movement
Press, Ltd., 1954.
Bates, M. Searle,
Religious Liberty: An Inquiry,
New York, International
Missionary Council, 1945.
Bennett, John C.,
Christians and the State,
New York, Charles Scribner’s
Sons, 1958.
Bennett, John C.,
The Christian as Citizen,
New York, Association Press,
1955.
Brunner, Emil,
The Divine Imperative,
trans. by Olive Wyon, New York,
The Macmillan Company, 1942, chs. XXXVI-XXXVII.
Cadoux, C. J.,
Christian Pacificism Re-examined,
Oxford, Basil Blackwell,
1940.
Calvin, John,
Institutes of the Christian Religion,
2 vols., Philadelphia,
Presbyterian Board of Education, 1936, bk. IV, ch. XX.
34 Thomas Keehn and Kenneth Underwood, “Protestants in Political Action,”
Social Action,
XVI, no. 6 (lune 15, 1950), p. 33.
340
Biblical Faith and Social Ethics