By Joe Bass

Most Americans see religion as a source of good. But most are not aware that religion has historically been like a double-edged sword — a source of both good and bad. This goes back thousands of years into human history.

In original societies formed by hunter-gatherers, religion and government were intertwined into a whole. In this type of rigid society, there could never be one government with many religions.

In human history there have been few periods when religious tolerance was practiced. One time was during the several hundred years when Muslim Moors ruled the Iberian Peninsula, allowing religious freedom for Muslims, Christians, and Jews. But the Western Christian Church eventually defeated the Moors, establishing the requirement that all Muslims and Jews convert to Christianity or be killed.

This is what the Spanish Inquisition was about.

For hundreds of years, wars were fought attempting to create a Europe based on the concept of one interwoven government and religion. This was complicated by the Reformation started by Martin Luther in 1517. Many died for their religious beliefs during the Reformation Era. For example, in 1572 tens of thousands of French Protestants known as Huguenots were killed in the streets of Paris and the rest of France. This is known as the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre.

Today many of the wars in the Middle East are based on religious conflict. The same is true of the wars being fought in Africa.

Two approaches to eliminate religious conflict have been attempted. The Soviet Union attempted to create an atheist nation in which religious practices were illegal. Clearly this didn’t work very well. The other approach was established by Thomas Jefferson when he got the Virginia legislature to enact The Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom in 1786, a precursor to the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

The major section of Jefferson’s act reads as follows, “Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.”

Is it possible for citizens to follow their religious beliefs and be contrary to the institutions or principles of the United States at the same time? It happens every day. Groups of citizens band together and attempt to get government to enact and enforce laws based on their religious beliefs that are different from the religious beliefs of others.

Based on Jefferson’s concept of religious freedom, our government should not be in the business of forcing the religious beliefs of some upon others. There are a lot of un-American activities going on in our political arena, religion and politics being mixed. This causes conflict among us and causes us to focus on issues that should not be a part of our governmental processes.

Joseph L. Bass, Ed.D., is the executive director of ABetterSociety.Info Inc., a nonprofit organization in Hobson. Email him at ABetterSociety1@aol.com.