We are not a nation of one religion

My earliest memories of church are of getting dressed up and heading to St. Dominic’s, in Oyster Bay, with my family. We’d dab our fingers with holy water, make the sign of the cross and walk into the pews, where I would immediately grab a hymnal and start looking through it, hoping we’d get to sing some of my favorites, like “The Lord of the Dance” or “We Three Kings.”

As I grew up, I continued to enjoy many aspects of religion, from getting into (very amateur) theological debates with my friends to the sense of community and belonging it can provide, even as my belief in God slipped away.

While I don’t go to church too often anymore, I still have a special place in my heart for the magic, the importance and the splendor of religion, especially Christianity. The history of religion is one of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and led to some of the most phenomenal art, literature and philosophy that humanity has ever produced.

But I’ve been deeply disheartened by some political stunts that have taken place around the country in the name of religion. None more so than the recent efforts by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to require all public classrooms in the state to display the Ten Commandments. This comes at a time when there are calls for America to “return” to being a Christian nation, and for Christianity to play a more prominent role in our government, with many echoing the sentiments of Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert that “I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk.”

That “junk” Boebert so eloquently refers to is one of the defining pillars of the Founding Fathers’ vision for our country. Because despite what Christian nationalists argue, the United States has never been a Christian nation, and was expressly founded on the idea that any people, with any religious beliefs, could find a home here, even if reality has not always reflected those ideals.

Some argue that the founders were themselves Christian, and that religion played a huge role in the creation of the nation. What this conveniently ignores is the fact that many of them were in fact deists, with no personal connection to any one church. George Washington attended a different denomination’s service every week, while many suspected Benjamin Franklin of being a secret atheist.

Thomas Jefferson even went so far as to reply to a letter by the Danbury Baptist Association by declaring, “When (the Church has) opened a gap in the hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world, God hath ever broke down the wall itself, removed the Candlestick, etc., and made His Garden a wilderness as it is this day. And that therefore if He will ever please to restore His garden and paradise again, it must of necessity be walled in peculiarly unto Himself from the world …”

Even earlier, Roger Williams, a Puritan minister and the founder of Rhode Island, was banished from Massachusetts for his “erroneous” and “dangerous opinions,” for preaching against the king and for the separation of church and state. Williams feared that the co-mingling of religion and government would not only lead to oppression, but would damage the integrity of the church.

Favoring one religion over others goes directly against the Constitution itself. The Establishment Clause, a key component of the First Amendment, states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” While the exact meaning of “establishment” has been debated by legal scholars for centuries, the broad understanding has traditionally been that the government cannot, and should not, promote one religion over any other.

Religion is a wonderful thing. It brings people together, and encourages us to consider our place in the universe. I’ll be the first to stand up when people of any religious denomination in this country are being oppressed for their beliefs.

At the same time, we cannot allow any religious ideology to influence the functioning of our government, because once we start telling people how to live, love and think based on our religious beliefs, we are no longer upholding religion, but tyranny. As a wise carpenter from Nazareth said in Matthew 22:20, “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”

Will Sheeline is a senior reporter covering Glen Cove, Glen Head, Oyster Bay and Sea Cliff. Comments? WSheeline@liherald.com.