Separation of church and state
In Briefing 316, Tony Payne pointed out the increasingly common argument being used to silence the Christian perspective in public debate: “the separation of church and state” argument.
Here is another example, this time from Canada.
According to the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, Pierre Pettigrew, the Church should keep its nose out of the government's same-sex marriage legislation.
“I find that the separation of the Church and the state is one of the most beautiful inventions of modern times,” he said.
Mr Pettigrew may well find his convenient doctrine of “the separation of church and state” a beautiful thing. Problem is, as Tony Payne pointed out, the separation of church and state “emphatically does not mean the separation of religious, moral or spiritual convictions from the conduct of public life, as if such a thing were possible. It never has meant that, nor could it possibly mean that. Every person in public life brings their own philosophical, moral and spiritual commitments with them to the task of public leadership and legislation”.
The truth of this is abundantly evident in Mr Pettigrew's comments about his support for the same-sex marriage legislation. He describes his support as a “question of principle for me”. Really, Mr Pettigrew? Are you the only one who is allowed to have ‘principles’?