The Need for Separation of Church and State

When religion and the state are one and the same, we call it a theocracy. The Puritans tried to legislate morality in the 1600’s. Where are they now?

Although Republicans in the 1960 election of President John F. Kennedy spread their campaign propaganda that if Catholic Kennedy were elected, the Pope would be in charge of the US Government. These fears didn’t stop Kennedy from being elected, but I want to recall his own words on the need for separation of church and state. It’s ironic that in 2024 non-Catholics are trying to create a new theocracy in which the State dictates every aspect of sexuality and banning books to prevent students from reading about diversity, racism, sex, and history of slavery in America. Here’s what Kennedy said—

“I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute - where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote - where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference - and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish - where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source - where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials - and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.”

[Remarks to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, September 12 1960]

John F. Kennedy

Photo by History in HD on Unsplash