If the USA was legally Christian, which of our 279* denominations would it be?
Do you think we’d follow Lutheran doctrine? I’ve got a Lutheran preacher in the family. Or maybe Brethren, like where I went to college? Or Evangelical Free? I’ve been to two of those! African Methodist Episcopal, or African Methodist Episcopal Zion? Baptist? Southern Baptist? Reformed Baptist? Maybe Full Gospel Baptist?
*I counted 279 from the most recent Pew Research Survey on U.S. Christian denominations. I’m sure there are more.
While this isn’t the only issue with trying to make the US a theocracy, it’s kind of a big one, isn’t it?
Back in Europe, before the U.S. really got off the ground, there was an awful lot of heartache and bloodshed caused by trying to figure out which Christian denomination the state would follow.
Would you want to be arrested for believing that your pastor, not a king, is your highest spiritual authority on Earth? That’s (very roughly) what a lot of Puritans escaped when they came here.
Would you want to be caught in a harrowing war between Catholics and Protestants, like happened all over Europe in the 1600s? To quote Wikipedia, “The Swedish armies alone destroyed 2,000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500 towns in Germany, one-third of all German towns.” Eeesh.
Even if the entire U.S. could agree on a denomination, how long would it take before that denomination split? And if you felt yourself growing away from the state church, you couldn’t just prayerfully attend the Wednesday evening service at the place across town to see if the Lord is leading you there.
Setting aside an entire state religion, what about specific issues?
I think you’ll run into the same problem, and about issues much more political than the proper time to have a baptism.
I believe there are zero politically relevant issues that you could get every church to agree on.
The definition of marriage? Catholics think everyone else can only aspire to “natural marriage,” not a sanctified marriage. Going to war? Anabaptists are committed pacifists, even if the other side struck first. Want to get coffee? Mormons consider it unhealthy enough that it’s a sin to drink.
Imagine if politics was like trying to agree on a mission statement for your church’s website? Or approving a new pastor? Or deciding on
I like cappuccinos and religious freedom.
—The Polite Liberal
