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I think the opinion column in the Aug. 9-10 BDN by Pastor Jon Avery is so skewed and off base as to have been near not worth reading.
Separation of church and state is not for the benefit of the church. It’s to protect all citizens from the biases and leanings of a church, to protect the general public and our government from religious commands and preserve religious freedom. The pastor’s stance is not grounded in American history and is a misrepresentative of our foundation. Try glancing at Federalist 52, and Thomas Jefferson’s 1802 letter on the separation of church and state.
It seems the pastor has confused church rights to speak morally with church demands to influence policy. Abortion? For thousands of years, abortion was not the sin now proclaimed.
Church interference in our laws have taken, or threatened to take, freedoms from citizens who don’t believe what the pastor believes. Churchly interference in state laws has stolen religious freedoms from people who don’t believe what they do. Kind of like the Taliban, or Iran mullahs.
I think such churches should feel a bit of shame for how they spin their desire for churchly dominance. And, the more Pastor Avery’s religious “brethren” dabble in constitutional principles, the more churches deserve, actually demand, taxation. If churches want to spread their ecclesiastical theories, they will eventually be taxed. Just like Henry VIII did to the Catholic interests. After Pastor Avery’s column, I believe churches should be taxed.
Charlie Roth
Presque Isle
