Daron Davis: U.S. is a secular republic, despite what some believe
In an earlier piece, I argued that the United States of America is not founded or based on Christianity. I feel like it was vital to make that statement.
Why make such strong statements about what we aren't? The cause is both righteous, very present and ongoing. We are dealing with folks who mislead others with inaccurate and biased historical interpretations that even border on lies.
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That lie is that this nation is based on any religion at all. It is an agenda-based lie. The plan by some is to make the United States a fascistic and bigoted nation based on the largest religious faction, evangelical Christians. Some want a country where laws are designed, written, by, and for Christians. Christian evangelicals comprise about 20% of the American population. And the United States of America becoming a theocracy would no longer be a democratic nation. We can not have a pro-democracy country that allows a minority to rule.
The First Amendment of the Constitution states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ... It goes on to speak about the freedom of speech, the press and the right to assemble and petition peaceably. The First Amendment to the Constitution says plainly that no religion would be established. This clearly describes a secular government.
But what does “secular” mean? Secular means an attitude, an activity or other things without a religious or spiritual basis.
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A secular government would have no laws that use any discrimination for or against any religion. Our nation is a constitutionally secular government.
In other words, evangelical Christians can worship a golden statue of former president Donald Trump without any jeopardy of punishment by laws written by the government. And let's not forget that this actually happened. Alas, there may be high social costs to pay.
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What is a democratic republic? It's a governmental system that is based on both principles of a republic and that of a democracy. It's a blend of the two. The combination is having the eligible voting population elect the members of the state, and those members represent them.
The U.S. is a democratic republic. We elect our state, federal and local government members, whether they are representatives, council members senators, governors or presidents. Again, I remind you that the Constitution forbids the establishment of religion. I remind us that these members are not to write or pass laws that elevate a religion.
A government based on any religion would, by default, be authoritarian. It would favor one faith over another or the non-religious. Authoritarian government is anti-democratic by nature. We do not want an authoritarian-run government. Authoritarian governments soon become tyrannical.
The constitution intentionally established and designed the 50 different sovereign states in a federal government of, by, and for the people. The power of this government is to reside in the people. This democratic republic has both elements of a democracy and a republic by using voting to allow us to choose the members of the state.
Eyler Robert Coates, Sr., wrote: "Religious institutions that use government power in support of themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths or of no faith, undermine all our civil rights." This means that faith-based laws are oppressive.
Civil rights are lost because faith-based laws are written and enforced by state power to oppress other faiths or those of no faith. This has been misattributed to Thomas Jefferson. But Jefferson did go on to write about The First Amendment to say, "that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."
We must maintain our country's secularism by opposing all faith-based legislation. We must not allow any religion to oppress people of differing religions or non-religious people.
No matter the intentions of the religious that desire a theocracy, we cannot allow any group of citizens to have their desires attended to and others ignored. That would be the consequence of designing laws to fit any religious view even if it's the most common religion among the citizens of the United States — even if it's Christianity.
Daron Davis lives in Fayetteville. He can be reached at theedavis5@gmail.com.