liberty of conscience

  What is the role of government? “The great and chief end, therefore, of men uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their [lives, liberties and property]” (John Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government, 1690). That is the founding principle of our republic. Yes, Jefferson echoed those words in the declaration of independence. Words that we all have heard and known since we were small children. John Locke philosopher and medical researcher. A proponent of capitalism. Locke argued for government by the consent of the people and that when government went against that, it should be replaced. Yeah, what the revolution was all about. 

  Today a great deal of argument centers around the "charitable" role of government. Does the government have an obligation to extend charity to those that are unable to fend for themselves for whatever reason? Well, that obligation lies with the people doesn't it. The governed have to decide upon that. And that is where the separation of church and state enters the picture. The establishment clause of the constitution. Locke advocated for a strict separation of government and religion. Government was to deal with civil matters, not with personal religious issues. Locke called it the "liberty of conscience." We are all free to exercise our conscience in whatever way we see fit. If we wish to be charitable that is an individual choice as well as the function of religious groups. In fact "liberty of conscience" is an inalienable right.

 Jefferson and many of the founding fathers were deeply religious men. You can argue about that all day long, some saying they were deists and that isn't religious. The belief in a higher power is all that is required to be a religious and spiritual person. The precise doctrine you may or may not follow does not define that. If the United States had established Christianity as the "official" religion what "version" of the Christian Bible are we going to use? The King James version? That was created to settle disputes regarding reforms in the church and to deal with those pesky Puritans. There are over 450 versions of the Bible in English alone! Pick an edition. Are we to follow the Old Testament, or the New? If the old can be replaced, so can the new. Todays interpretation of the new testament is certainly quite a bit different than it was just fifty years ago. Granted, not in all "churches" but that's the point isn't it? What does it mean? That meaning is what Locke and Jefferson were concerned with as the meaning is an individual thing. That is the "liberty of conscience." 

  Consider Islamic nations. They all use the Koran and Sharia law as a basis for their government. But, the amount of influence that text has on actual civil law varies widely between nations. Why is that? I suspect they too are exercising their "liberty of conscience." I suspect a great deal just has to do with commerce, the securing of the "pursuit of happiness" eluded to in our founding documents. Why are all of those nations identified as Islamic Nations and yet the United States is never called a Christian nation? Because of the establishment clause, that's why. 

   Luke 12:33 ("Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail").  If we were to adopt the Christian bible as our guide for governance that would be the law. Sell everything you have and give it away. Is that what we need to do to secure eternal life? That's what the book says, but we all agree that isn't what it really means. That's how that works. That is why we must not have a religious doctrine on any type as the government doctrine. It is up to the people, not the government.   "when the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic,"    (Benjamin Franklin) He's talking about extending charity to yourself! And don't you deserve that! Well, you are expected, as a citizen of this nation to exercise your "liberty of conscience" as a means of controlling the expenditure of public funds. It isn't the denial of charity, it is the prudent exercise of that. Should you "sell your possessions and give it to the needy" as the text plainly states? If you answer no, why not? If you answer yes, why haven't you? 

                                                                                  

 "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"  

Remember this is a sonnet written for a contest to raise funds for building the base of that statue. It isn't a proclamation from the government. Not an official policy. It expresses the "liberty of conscience" of Emma Lazarus in November of 1883.