Cutting the Gordian Knot of Religious Conflict

by Lee McCracken

I read today, with some amusement, of the upcoming “Godless Americans” march on Washington D.C. Apparently, organized atheists, agnostics and skeptics have decided it’s time to have their “seat at the table” of American Democracy. Too long have they been marginalized by their God-fearing fellow citizens. So, naturally, it’s time to march on Our Nation’s Capitol, list of demands in hand. 

So, what exactly are the “Godless Americans” demanding? Apparently, they believe that programs proposed by President Bush threaten to erode the wall of separation between church and state that is the heart and soul, pardon the expression, of the First Amendment. Particularly objectionable are Bush’s plans to allow religiously-oriented social service providers access to federal funds, as well as taxpayer funded educational vouchers that could be used by parents at private religious schools. 

Beyond that, the GA’s would also like “to end all forms of organized prayer in public schools, the removal of religious symbols—such as the Ten Commandments—from public buildings and an end to public oaths in which God is mentioned. They'd also like Bush and other politicians to stop invoking God in their speeches.” They’re also seeking the removal of all paid chaplains in Congress and the replacement of “In God We Trust” as the national motto with “E Pluribus Unum.” 

The first thought that springs to mind is the irony of these self-proclaimed “freethinkers” seeking to become another organized group of “victims” wallowing in their own grievances and demanding redress from the U.S. government. On their website, the GA’s make this goal explicit: 

“Just about every political and social ‘cause’ organization has done it--gays, blacks, women, even the Promise Keepers. Groups of every ideological coloration have spoken out and demanded ‘a seat at the table’ by mobilizing their supporters for a march or demonstration in our nation's capital.

It's American as apple pie . . . .”

Frankly, this kind of PC blather makes one long for the days of the detached, bemused skeptic laughing at the follies of believers, like H.L. Mencken, or even the angry righteous atheist like Bertrand Russell.

But, beyond that, it has to be admitted that the GA’s have a point. Why should atheist kids be subjected to “coercive prayer” in public schools (though, I tend to doubt this is happening on epidemic scales)? Should taxpayer money go to religious organizations, schools, or charities? What about that “In God We Trust” on our money?

Where the GA’s go wrong is in pursuing the zero-sum game of politics as the solution to their complaints. If the government were to accept their list of demands, it would benefit them at the expense of their believing neighbors. Look at their issues from the other side. In the eyes of many believers, their tax-money that goes to government-financed social services often fuels habits of dependency and immorality. They are forced to fund public schools that systematically exclude the beliefs and moral teachings of their faiths. In some people’s eyes, the public schools enforce a materialist, secular worldview, by default, if not in principle. To remove their children from that influence, they would have to pay for private school tuition in addition to the taxes they pay to fund the public schools. Seeking some governmental recognition of their religious beliefs is a way to resist what they think are dangerous secular influences.

What both sides tend to forget is that the First Amendment was ratified at a time when the federal government was much smaller and played a radically different role in the lives of ordinary citizens. It’s only as it has wormed its way into every nook and cranny of our lives over the last 200 or so years that these issues have become seemingly intractable. When every social space becomes “public,” everyone rightly wants a say in which beliefs—religious, moral, etc.—are institutionalized in public life.

The solution comes in heeding the wisdom of libertarianism. Only when society is thoroughly “de-politicized” will people be free to reflect their beliefs in their common life. In other words, rather than fight over whose beliefs (secular or religious) will be foisted on everyone by the Federal Leviathan, Godless and God-fearing Americans should work together to get the government out of our lives. You don’t like prayer/secularism in public schools? Get the government (especially the federal government) out of education. Don’t like your tax dollars going to religious/secular social service providers? Get government out of the social service business. Don’t like “In God We Trust” on the money? Get government out of the moneymaking business!

We see here, as elsewhere, how the coercive state plants the seeds of conflict in society. Only when people are free to spend their money as they wish, associate with whom they wish, and worship or not worship as they please, can peaceful cooperation and coexistence be the rule, rather than the exception, between those with radically different views of the world.