In the United States of America, the definitive separation between religious ideals and political state policies has always been a principle tenet in which the country proudly stands on. 

However, in recent years, if one looks at our modern political landscape with an objective lens, it is clear that the separation between church and state is being subtly threatened. 

I don’t see there being a villainous reason for this, I only point out the fact that the more and more this country matures, the more the threat of us becoming a theocratic nation lingers. There is a vocal community within our nation that seeks to go against the path the founding fathers laid out for us and ensure that our politics and our faith becomes intertwined to one another.

 This crusade to unite church and state is a dangerous one. 

And one that if not fought against, will lead to the fall of the United States as we know it today. The opening amendment to The Constitution states that we “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. A strong argument can be made that we unconsciously have failed to adhere to this seemingly simple law.

In October of 2022, the Pew Research Center released a poll which states that 45% of American citizens want the nation to become a “Christian country”. 

The Pew Research article discussing this poll went on to claim that most Americans reject that the founders wanted the country to be free from religious influence. But when asked what being a “Christian country” means, they’re answers varied. “Many supporters of Christian nationhood define the concept in broad terms, as the idea that the country is guided by Christian values. Those who say the United States should not be a Christian nation, on the other hand, are much more inclined to define a Christian nation as one where the laws explicitly enshrine religious teachings.” 

About three-forths of Americans continue to denounce the idea that America should become a fully theocratic state, but that statistic nevertheless reflects a worrying trend among modern citizens.

And we only need to look outside our windows to see how that trend is already affecting us. Extremist right-wing elected officials have not made it a secret that they intend for the U.S. to go back to its “roots” and bring faith back into the world of politics. This ideal has led to the overturning of Roe V. Wade, a landmark legal case which resulted in the right to abortion. 

And it’s clearly demonstrated that other basic rights, like the right to marriage, is also being publicly threatened to be snatched away. 

When did we as a nation decided to accept this slow decline into extreme religious politics? 

Political players on the right like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Clarence Thomas, have become emboldened by the events of the last five years to continue to push their religious agendas onto the American public. 

When discussing the future of the Republican party, Greene stated that for her political party to continue growing, they’d have to lean into the religious aspects of their group.

In July, Green said “We need to be the party of nationalism and I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly, we should be Christian nationalists.”

Why isn’t this a major concern to everyone? 

The truth is that it isn’t a new concern. The phrase “a separation between church and state” cannot be found within the Constitution. The origins of it can be found in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802. 

Jefferson and other thinkers like him argued that a wall between these two societal institutions was the only reliable way for this country to continue moving forward. 

And the events of this year shows us that the line between religion and politics has become less of a protective wall and more of a blurry haze. 

And that wall isn’t there to only protect the government from religion, it’s to protect religion from the government. 

It just doesn’t sit right with me that political leaders in our nation use the words of God to push an agenda they desire. 

Instead of using faith as a way to bind people, they use it as a piece of propaganda. A political weapon. A prison in which they can trap others. 

There isn’t a simple solution to this complex, gray issue. Yet, it seems to me that the very core of the issue is that it seems many Americans have forgotten, or worse ignore, the philosophy of our democratic society. 

We shouldn’t ignore these bright red flags swinging in our faces. The more we ignore the problem, the more our nation’s most basic beliefs fade into an old memory we couldn’t bother remembering.