Religion and government have always been considered topical issues that oppose each other in many ways. People’s opinions are not united when talking about religion and politics; they either choose one of the sides or incline from the conversation. Thus, Roger Williams, who was born in 1603 and was a protestant theologist, secularism supporter, and a fighter for a free religious creed, considered that the government directly contradicts spiritual principles.
Williams stated that religion and government should stay separate from each other, as state officials cannot be servants of God. The second reason for the separation is the impossibility of making an archetype, a particular example in terms of the ideology of various religions. It means that making one president who can submit people to himself contradicts religious independence and diversity. Another argument is that government strives to state united religion; this directly forces people to change their creed or betray it. Thus, God does not oblige the uniformity of any religion. In addition, this aspect means that many religions can be oppressed, and it undermines religious and faith principles.
According to Roger Williams, the government aims to oppress freedom-loving tenets of God. The union of religious and state organizations may lead to corruption and an infringement of religious and political rights of minority faiths (‘The Danger of,’ 2020). Some religions which are preached by minorities might become illegal, and people may have to fight for their faiths. Unfortunately, it can result in multiple debates connected to the return of freedom and religious monopoly. Therefore, Williams proposed separation of religion from government in order to differentiate between civil and divine, to assure each religion is worth existing.
Reference
The Danger of Religion Controlling Politics | State of Grace | Refinery29. (2020). [Video]. YouTube. Web.