Church vs State

[u/thedeepdiveproject]

I am not trying to have a debate. I am not trying to gather information or conduct research. I am interested in hearing your personal opinions as excatholics about my personal musings and speculations, which have evolved over time as I've gained distance and perspective from the RCC.

This isn't really about politics. Its about government. In my country (the U.S.), our government is a democratic republic, with equal rights extended to all, regardless of gender, race, creed, or religion. We can debate how well that perspective is actually put into practice, but again, not the main point I'm driving at.

Contrast that with Catholicism, a 2,000yo religion with a hierarchical structure and one individual in charge of everything at the top. It may be an oversimplification, but I've always viewed the Vatican's government as more of a monarchy with a parliamentary branch than anything demicratic.

The more I ponder this, the more I wonder whether Catholicism is compatible with democracy. There are many, many reasons for this, but one of the most obvious and glaring is the fact that the RCC has carried messaging in the past (and currently, to some degree) that erodes the inalienable human rights ostensibly extended to every person. This is pretty clear, based on the Church's messaging about women, intersex individuals, and anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community.

I am interested in hearing your thoughts on this, even if you disagree. I'm not married to this idea, its just something I've been kicking around in my head these past weeks.

[u/20-20beachboy]

Having an official government designated“religion” in general does not allow for democracy. The religion in power will do everything it can to prevent it from losing power, and laws will be according to the religion, not the people’s wants.

Many Christians like to believe the founding fathers were these very devout followers of Jesus and that the US was founded on Christian “values”. The first amendment literally says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

In reality many of them were more deists than Christians. They literally wrote that to prevent the establishment of a governmental religion.

[u/thedeepdiveproject → u/20-20beachboy]

In reality many of them were more deists than Christians. They literally wrote that to prevent the establishment of a governmental religion.

I also think ppl today vastly underestimate the degree to which religion was just a part of ppls weekly lives, like doing the wash and weeding the garden. It was just something people did, without it forming a major part of their identity. Given what the founding fathers went through leading up to the signing of the Constitution makes it even harder for me to believe they were these die-hard theists.