Though implicit in the Constitution, separation of Church and State is today theory only; in my ancient days we were cautioned not to mix religion and politics because one was in the realm of private, spiritual conscience and the other in public secular conformity. No one needed religion to tell him that he should not expose himself in public, that he should remove his hat when a woman entered the elevator, that he should not expect anything more than a light kiss at the woman’s front door after the first date, that he should not say “what?” to his elders but “pardon me?” Nor would he dare swear in front of a girl or Mom — any elder for that matter — nor would he hear a curse word from his girl, Mom, or aunt, but there was limited profanity among the company of men, assumedly out of earshot of children and women.
There were no grievances at elementary school, we conceded to the daily cleanliness inspection by holding out our hands to show they were washed and fingernails sparkling, and the teacher tugged at the boys’ shirts to be certain there was no ring around our collars. All of us rose obediently and proudly for the Allegiance to the flag — there was no “under God” controversy then — by the fourth grade and under duress we were called up one by one to recite from memory the “Star Spangled Banner.” If we were remiss in resisting temptation by stealing a candy bar, or a toy from Woolworth’s, we either confessed it to the priest, or if detected by the parent were made to return the object or come up with a nickel for the candy. Before Pearl Harbor, weekly we proudly affixed our ten cent defense stamp to a booklet, later they became war stamps. Patriotism abounded in Art: posters we made were everywhere displaying troops, Uncle Sam, pleas to buy stamps and bonds. In Home Economics girls in the eighth grade made their own graduation dresses. Strong school discipline and the fear of our parents’ wrath kept us in reasonable check. Those who did misbehave were sharply reprimanded, punished — rarely left back but for serious cases — and the parents notified for double disciplinary action.
In high school there was more freedom because we were expected to be more responsible but underlying the expectation was the threat of extreme discipline, such as suspension and outright expulsion for sixteen year-olds. Most of us thought of high school as the epitome of learning that would result in a decent job. College, but for the upper middle class — secure with a household weekly income of $45-$50 — never entered our lexicon. Of course, there were those unfortunate who had to quit at the age of sixteen to help support the family — at that time, many. Yes, it was clearly a different secular era growing up; and though there were radio and movies, reading still dominated — even if it were either Nancy Drew or comic books and westerns.
What has changed Wordsworth would say is that the world is too much with us. Materialism and hedonism have gone rampant and lost in the swirling dust a sense of self discipline. Is there any wonder, then, that religion has begun to intrude upon our arrant secular behavior and lack of simple, decent manners? The era has passed in which God was for Sunday only; now it has conflated politics and the rule of law. Many now feel that no longer does God need us, but that we need God as if he were the wrathful catalyst to rectify our own shortcomings when all it takes between breaths is to reflect on the comic-tragic consequences of human frailty.
Roe v Wade, for instance, was not meant to approve abortion, but to protect women from back alley “surgery” inasmuch as abortion had become tragically common because drug prevention in the 50s had proved deadly. Today, there are better preventive pills and general contraception devices that a woman — caught up in sexual freedom by both sexes — has every right to expect if the selfish fear or economic restraint of child-rearing is paramount. No amount of hard line lecturing is going to efface promiscuous culture that most of us would like to see rolled back by a sense of discipline among the sexes and return to back porch petting as opposed to wild abandon in a car, a beach, or motel.
The irony of religious intrusion is its negativity, rather than its positiveness wherein love and understanding are the ingredients for protectiveness and change. God’s wrath directed toward the helplessly irresponsible and hedonistic is counter to its tradition of recent past and drives them further underground infested with unseemly cults. Harsher laws and vice squads merely add to the dilemma of reclaiming innocence while punishing the morally sordid. Locking up gays or throwing them out of work and the armed services only augments the behavior. Though they should not be labeled as abominations, homosexuality definitely is nature’s aberration that should not — short of re-closeting — be allowed to flaunt its style by gauche parades, entertainment, and marriage; and in return for moderate behavior, be protected by the state and given full rights in partnership.
Single mothers should be praised for their courage not to abort, or selflessly adopt and if they need help the church and state should endow them with resources for their well-being and the children’s, along with encouragement to marry. Those who do abort should be given counseling in persuading them not to repeat the act, lest they hopelessly continue to lose all self-respect.
Whenever possible church and state should join in improving better citizenship. Neither should lecture nor be a negative law unto itself, lest they lose sight of their respective function: effectively and materially to help others to help themselves for the better.
Copyright © 2006 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: January 28, 2006.
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