A lot people have been bandying around the terms “separation of church and state.” However, much like Vizzini in “The Princess Bride,” I’m not sure they know what it means. Understandable, since it’s a pretty big concept which some of our greatest leaders have struggled with. Unacceptable, because it is historically the biggest win the U.S. has ever claimed. It’s so important it is the first amendment to the Constitution.
To begin, we should probably define what freedom of religion means to the citizens who are lucky enough to have it. Having freedom of religion means the leaders of our country are charged with making it as easy as possible for all people, regardless of how many other people practice their religion, to freely worship whatever they want.
That does NOT mean your principal should be able to pray over the loudspeaker at the high school football game. It DOES mean groups of students should be able to gather to talk together about whatever faith they want. Freedom of religion is the freedom to practice whichever faith you choose, however you choose, as long as it does not affect the rights of others. This means Tom Cruise can jump up and down about Scientology as much as he wants on your television, but he can’t come to your house and force you to watch it.
Because separation of church and state means government officials should not be using their personal beliefs to make decisions that affect the American people, the term “public servant” is intimately attached to the concept. Congressmen, local and executive officials are meant to serve the people who elect them. I don’t care which religion my president is, as long as I am sure he is going to serve my interests and those of the people around me. Because that’s his job. That doesn’t mean because the predominant religion of the U.S. is Christianity, the government serves only the interests of the Christian people.
Separation of church and state requires the president, and all other leaders, to make judgments based on protecting the freedoms of the constituents, not on personal biases from their faith. It is not the president’s job to make sure everyone in America acts in a way that suits his morals. It is his job to make sure that you can express your morals and practice your religion anywhere, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the rights of others.
This is why it should not matter whether Lincoln was Deist or JFK was Catholic or Obama is Christian or Romney is Mormon. From the Constitution, it is imperative the president not use his faith to lead the American people. In his personal life, I would sincerely hope the president is free to worship whomever he chooses and follow the direction he is led by his religion. However, when he puts on his president hat and sits down in the Oval Office, he must be led by the people, not by his religion. To do otherwise would not make him a good Christian. It would make him a bad president.