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Church and State Separation

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 26, 1906

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 83, No. 30.

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Church and State Separation

In a recent issue of the Northwestern Christian Advocate (Methodist) attention is called to the fact that “Bishop P. A. Ludden, of Syracuse, N. Y., refused to allow Catholic children to attend commencement exercises of public schools which were to be opened by prayer,” and the reason given by the bishop for this prohibition is stated as follows:—
I believe it is customary to have Protestant ministers offer what they call “the usual prayers” at these commencement exercises. All these exercises are called non-sectarian. This non-sectarianism is a cloak, a mask, and a delusion which is fraudulently and surreptitiously tacked on to the public schools. Separation of church and state—with Protestants means not a separation of the Protestant church and state.
Commenting upon this matter the Advocate says:—
The difference between Roman Catholics and Protestants is that Roman Catholics believe that the Catholic Church should dominate the state, including the educational work of the state. Protestants believe, and many in the Roman Catholic world are coming to believe, that there should be a separation, not between religion and the state, but between the church and the state.
We affirm that there are many Protestants, and their number is increasing, who refuse to justify a union of church and state by attempting to make a distinction which does not exist, and calling it a union of religion and the state. All history testifies that the union of religion and the state in theory is the union of church and state in practise. Jesus made no provision for the union of religion and the state when he stated the true principle: “Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” It is to the reproach of Protestantism that the charge of Bishop Ludden is true in so many cases: “Separation of church and state with Protestants means not a separation of the Protestant church and state.” We advocate a consistent Protestantism.