Jon Meacham in Newsweek wrote an essay in response to the federal judge in Wisconsin who ruled the National Day of Prayer was unconstitutional because it was state-sponsored religion. Alas, the Newsweek search won't provide a link. His essay is about reasons why the separation between church and state should be maintained. The first few are the traditional reasons from the secular side:
* Human freedom extends to freedom of conscience.
* With the separation America has created a free "market" in which religion can take it's own stand in the culture.
However, the rest of his reasons are religious.
* Meddling by the state corrupts the religion. Too many rulers have used faith to justify evil.
* Jesus refused to be a government ruler and said, "My kingdom is not of this world."
* St. Paul wrote that God does not show partiality among nations ("neither Jew nor Greek"), so no nation can claim the status of being blessed by God. God is not concerned with whether a person is American or Norwegian.
* If God gave us free will -- the choice to believe or not -- than no person should try to force another to declare belief.
Thus, a Christian Nation is a theological impossibility. Faith coerced is not faith, but tyranny.
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