Separation of Chump and State
What was Thomas Jefferson's wall intended to keep outside of government?
“All persons shall have full and free liberty of religious opinion, nor shall any be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious service or institution.”
- Thomas Jefferson, first draft of the constitution, 1776
There is no doubt that Thomas Jefferson had an unusual relationship with religion, but it was not because he had no appreciation for it. On the contrary, it was precisely because he recognised the necessity of religious freedom that he was keen to keep the specifics of any one religious doctrine out of the constitution of the United States of America. Jefferson practiced a kind of demythologised Christianity and once suggested “I am of a sect by myself, as far as I know.” This, perhaps, was part of his inspiration in laying the first stones in that great wall between Church and State.
Yet today, this principle seems entirely misunderstood, in part because of distortion in the meaning of the term ‘religion’, which certainly did not mean just ‘organised religion’ to Jefferson. He was, however, wildly offended by the attempt to ally power and religious doctrine, and judged priests as inherently vulnerable to making alliances with tyrants. In this, his scepticism is shared today by a great many people who do not claim any religion, some of whom view Separation of Church and State as a political weapon to wield against people of faith rather than a protection against one set of adherents using government power to curtail liberty.
Any religion you do not personally practice will tend to be judged as inescapable foolishness. In this regard, it doesn’t matter if you yourself confess a religion or not: the principle of the ludicrousness of other people’s metaphysical beliefs holds either way. The trouble is, when so many people cannot recognise any part of themselves as related to the word ‘religion’, it becomes perfectly possible for a great many forms of outlandish silliness to infiltrate government bureaucracy under the wall. Secularity is no guarantee of good sense, and bunk dressed up as science can cause just as much harm as the most deluded religious fanatic.
Rather than Separation of Church and State, perhaps we should build upon the idea that the purpose of this principle is to prevent any systematic foolishness from seizing control of the state apparatus to enforce its nonsense upon others. Rather than Separation of Church and State, we might talk about Separation of Chump and State. For truly, when it comes to the reasons for erecting such a functional barrier between certain aspects of human life and government, arguing about what ‘religion’ (or ‘Church’) means won’t help us fulfil what is, in fact, an admirable purpose: ensuring that everyone has the freedom to determine their own metaphysical and ethical positions.
Today, in fact, most of the nations that ever claimed to be liberal democracies no longer face serious risks of freedom being undermined by religious factions attempting to seize control of state bureaucracy. On the contrary, we face far greater dangers from non-religious hokum, and ‘science says jump off a cliff’ is as vast a playground of idiocy as ‘God says jump off a cliff’. What matters is whether jumping off a cliff is an appropriate idea for government to enact (hint: it isn’t), not whichever framework of justification is evoked behind it. A chump is a chump whatever they happen to believe.
Now the genuine problem in having stopped thinking intelligently about religion as an essentially unavoidable conceptual framework emerges from the brickwork, because the entire efficacy of the metaphorical wall between Church and State only works when it’s understood that everyone has something corresponding to that which is problematic in the figurative ‘Church’. You can’t just take this word literally. Nobody would be ridiculous enough to presume that this ideal is about preventing ecclesiastical architecture from infiltrating legislative buildings, after all.
Separation of Chump and State requires us to take a step backwards, to the point when theology ceased to be a central discipline in the university, and reframe theology as metaphysics in order to include its secular equivalents (what is often called ‘ideology’). Thus we might finally complete the process of secularisation that became derailed when non-religious faith created new generations of enthusiastic chumps who have thrived and multiplied ever since. Until we restore our understanding of what Jefferson’s wall was intended to keep out of government, we will continue to be governed by idiots.
Uncanny how close our topics are this week. I'll be looking at a short story by Algernon Blackwood.
In the US "Separation of Chump and State" might also be "Separation of Trump and State". While some states prevent convicted felons who have completed their sentence from voting, it is still fine for such a person to be elected President....
You might also want to contrast Religion and Spirituality within the context of your essay.
https://chopra.com/blogs/meditation/religion-vs-spirituality-the-difference-between-them
Unfortunately the Priestly quest for power is as old as the Bible.