Originally posted by Davo: I don't see how this answers my question. You say they're unique, but then start saying random things relevant to the 'separation of church and state' issue. If you don't want to answer it, that's fine with me.
You're right, that was not a complete answer. Here is the rest of it:
Religious groups were treated as separate under the law for a good reason. Madison and the other founding fathers knew that churches had to be kept strictly segregated from political life because they would almost certainly exert disprortionate influence on our government and destabilize our democracy. They knew that churches were among the only organizations that had the wealth, bureaucratic skills and power (not to mention the particular emotional power of religious faith) to dominate political life in such a way that it would no longer really be a democracy. They remembered the historical lessons of old Europe, where clerics had long been adept at scheming for domination of nation states. Even in the 1700s, American churches were easily powerful enough to dominate our fledgling government. Madison and Jefferson and the others therefore knew that separation of church and state was essential. That's why they wrote into our Constitution the rules I discussed in my last post.
For the same reasons, churches today should restrain themselves from political activity. Democracy is all about letting everyone have equal say. Churches could easily distort and even subvert democracy, as they harness the unique combined power of religious belief, tons of cash, and extensive grass roots organization.
