Constantine Lives

02/05/2005

Joe Mayer

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” All recognize this as part
of the First Amendment to our Constitution and one of the ten
amendments known as the “Bill of Rights.”

Today, that “Bill of Rights” is under attack by the current
administration.  While the “Bill of Rights” wasn’t perfect, it was a
huge step in human governance at that time.  Any attempt to thwart the
listed rights is of great concern to progressives.

In spite of the “make no law respecting an establishment of religion”
we frequently and usually refer to ourselves as a “Christian” nation,
in spite of the fact that we are atheist, agnostic, Jew, Hindu,
Muslim, Buddhist, and over 200 divisions of Christianity.  Many of our
ancestors came to the United States to escape the harshness of State
religion.

In the first centuries of Christianity its adherents were frequently
persecuted by the pagan state, which often extended divine attributes
to the emperor.  When Constantine, in 312, embraced Christianity for
political reasons, the marriage of the state and this new religion was
consummated.

Within 100 years of this marriage this religious state reversed the
tables and began to persecute pagans and then heretics.  To justify
the religious-dominated state, a bishop, Augustine, developed the
“just war” theory.  All religious wars thereafter invoked this “just
war” theory on both sides.

From Constantine to the framing of the U.S. Constitution, religion and
the state marched together through the Crusades, intramural wars, the
Inquisition, the imposition of religion along with imperialism, and
the custom of slavery.  The church proposed and the state empowered
and enforced.  The state desired and the church blessed.  The last
statement describes our current situation with the Christian
fundamentalists urging and blessing war with Iraq.

History lives!  Two examples; 1) The line that went through Eastern
Europe and Western Asia dividing the Communist block from the free
market states almost exactly paralleled the split between the Roman
Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.  This split occurred in 1056
and its effects are still with us.  2) During and after the 16th
Century Protestant Reformation, the nations of Europe took on the
religion of their kings/emperors.  Even today many of these countries
are predominately one religion.  (Ireland, Italy, Spain, France
Catholic; England Anglican; the Scandinavian countries Lutheran)
Those who emigrated to the U.S. built communities that reflected their
faith heritage.  Garrison Kiellor employs this in Lake Wobegon.

The two examples above have been the source of constant conflict,
fear, persecutions and wars to the current day.  Certitude in religion
and the desire to impose that certitude on others has been the cause
of the majority of wars in the last millennium.

Islam’s dominance in the Middle East, the Israel/Palestinian
situation, and our own war with Iraq has brought the religious state
to the forefront again.  “Holy War,” “Jihad,” the promise of “eternal
reward” for martyrdom, and church leaders on all sides fueling the
fires for war are our Constantinian legacy.  Our First Amendment tries
to rectify this human abuse of God.  It took some time but we
Christians of various denominations and people of other religions have
learned to live peaceably with one another in the U.S.

The First Amendment is a human rights decree.  History reveals it to
be a promoter of peace.  The separation of church and state is one of
humankind’s most progressive inventions.