When the Government Unites Church and State

I was shocked to read this article that Beetleblogger highlighted about a bill written by the judiciary committee in Connecticut with regard to the Catholic church,"which would remove the authority of the bishop and pastor over individual parishes and put a board of laymen in their place" (beetleblogger)

This so much reminds me of what the communist government in China has done. Our church believes that a church leader must be called of God by those who have already received authority from God. There is no jockeying for position in our church. There are no campaigns to win popularity from congregation members. The Priesthood authority over that position prays for inspiration to know who God would want called to that position.

Our church would very much like the opportunity to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in China. However, that government has had a bad history of religions that did more harm than good in their country, so they have thrown the baby out with the bathwater, and only allow "state controlled" churches. The Chinese government would allow our church to freely worship in their country on the grounds that we allow them to choose our leaders. But so fundamental to our beliefs is the teaching: "We believe that a man must be called of God by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.", that we would rather not have the church established in China than to have this important freedom taken away.

Now we see this same "peopled governed by the voice of the state" beginning to creep in to our formerly democratic nation. So angered are these law makers at the stand the Catholic church has taken on the issue of same sex marriage, that they have decided to try to find a way to take away the authority of those who have taken the stand.

I can only wonder where these same lawmakers were when we studied as grade school children about the war with England, and our nation's efforts to earn independence so that we could preserve our RELIGIOUS freedom!! What is happening to this nation that the very basic of civil rights are being taken away? Some may say that taking away the right of gays to marry is taking away a civil right. But that has never in the history of our nation, until recent years, every been made legal. In fact, in many states, homosexuality is still illegal. It's not a matter of giving something that was taken away. They never had this privilege before. And one of the major reasons is because the very definition of marriage entails the principle that it is between a man and a woman. But to try to get revenge, or to try to force the Catholic church to comply with their politically correct notions, Connecticut's lawmakers have decided that their political aims are above the voice and civil rights of the people.

This is a sad day for America. I feel sad for those founding fathers that gave their lives to give us this religious freedom, and now must only watch from heaven with tears in their eyes as a morally bankrupt society strips it's people of the very freedoms they fought to preserve.