American Faith: A Personal Struggle with Separation of Church and State

By Daren Eric Strobel

American Faith is about my personal journey with the concept of separation of church and state. I use biblical and historical events added with personal struggles to emphasize how I view the concept of separation of church and state. It is not just a personal struggle but also a struggle our nation has had since its beginning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098045272

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American Faith

A Personal Struggle with Separation of Church and State

Daren Eric Strobel

Copyright © 2020 by Daren Eric Strobel

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Personal Beginnings

A King and God’s Will

A King, a Divorce, and the Church

The Puritans and the New World

A King, a Prophet, and an Affair

Martin Luther’s Two Kingdoms Doctrine

The Lessons I Learned during This Struggle

To Holly who sparked, ignited and encouraged this book.

Preface

Ihave two passions in my life, religion and politics. I know, that is an odd combination. But that is what those two are to me—passions. For as long as I can remember, these passions have always been a part of me. They are a part of my DNA. However, there has been a struggle within me for years. The struggle has been how to live with these two totally incompatible topics, my passions. For years I could not bring these two together. I felt that they were going to be forever at war within me.

To add to this odd combination, I am a devout Christian who is a member of the Lutheran denomination, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a liberal and a Democrat. Now that combination has raised many an eyebrow when they come up in discussions. One of my friends once commented that they did not understand how I could be a liberal and a Christian. Aren’t all liberals atheists? That is another question I get from time to time. Those comments and questions say so much about the myths that are out in our country today. They also say so much about the state of affairs in our country as well.

We are in a divisive time in our country. There are many myths out there that drive that wedge even further in our country. Many historians point out that we have been down this path before, and we have. America is a divided country, and yet we are a united country. Throughout our history, we have had issues that divide us. This path is well trod in our country’s history. You can see the patterns. Our current mindset on the issue of immigration is no different than what it was back in the late 1800s. The numerous immigration laws that were passed back in that time frame were meant to do one thing—to keep Asians out of America and to prevent them from taking our jobs. The truth was that Asians and the Irish were willing to do the dirty jobs that many Americans believed were beneath them. If it were not for these two immigrant groups, our railroad system may not have been built.

The mindset is the same as we view religion throughout our history. We proclaim that God is on our side, and not just any God, but the Christian God of the Bible. God is not on any side; he is on the side of the whole human race. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and so forth are all God’s children and creations. The Great Awakening, Manifest Destiny, and so forth all have that God is on our side feeling to it. We still have that attitude today. That is not a completely bad thing, but also it is not completely good as well.

That is the struggle that I have and that I see America is having. We are a blessed nation, but so are others. We feel God is fighting for us, but he is also fighting for others as well. Americans struggle with the proper place to put God in our nation, and I do not think we have found that middle ground yet. We either weaponize the words of God to our benefit or be silent in the face of moral corruption. We want to follow orthodox Christian values as a nation, but we have no problems with retail businesses being open on Sundays, our Sabbath, our day of rest.

We Christians struggle with what it means to be Americans, and America is struggling with what it means to be a tolerant, diverse nation with differing cultures and beliefs—a nation wanting to welcome the Jew, the Muslim, the Hindu, and other believers without demeaning our own Christian faith. We are a nation trying to find itself and its voice amid the changes and diversity that are currently happening in America.

That has been my struggle as well. What does it mean to be a politically astute person and someone who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ? What does it mean to voice your political views and not compromise your beliefs? How does that work? This book is about my struggle and the journey I took to reach peace within me and my soul. It is a struggle that I see America having, and it is my hope, through this book, you come to a deeper understanding of the issue of separation of church and state.

Put not your trust in rulers, in mortals in whom there is no help.

When they breath their last, they return to earth, and in that day their thoughts perish.

—Psalm 146:3–4

Personal Beginnings

On November 8, 2016, election night, I was up watching the results of the presidential election. Having majored in political science in college and being a political wonk, this is the Super Bowl for me. I was up late watching the collapse of Hillary Clinton’s bid for president.

My youngest daughter could not sleep and would come downstairs on occasion to check if a winner has been declared. She turned eighteen that year, and she poured herself into the election. She followed the polls, primary votes, researched the issues, and discussed the election with me and her mom. She was bitten by the political bug much like I was in 1968. I saw this but never prepared her for what would be the unthinkable because I thought it was unthinkable. As I was watching the states fall into line for Trump, I knew that Clinton would not be president. In the few moments after midnight, my daughter came downstairs to see what was happening. I told her that Trump would be president. She cried.

As I was holding her to comfort her, she asked a very hard question, Why would God allow this? I did not know how to answer her question. This was her first vote. She wanted a winner with that vote. Her tears took me back to 1980, when I voted for the first time. My first vote went to Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan won that election and went on to serve two terms as president. I cried the same tears and asked the same questions that my daughter was asking in 2016. But her question about God began to haunt me; it got stuck in my head. I could not shake it. It crept into my mind daily. It was a question that goes to the heart of my struggle. It awakened an old struggle. It went to another struggle: if God is in control of everything, then why does stuff that seems to contrast with Christianity happen? That old struggle came back to life, a struggle that was a stumbling block for me. I never really came to terms or accepted that part of me—the two passions that people looked at strangely and wondered about. The two passions that people told me to choose one or the other. The two passions that people try to convince me that would never work together. The two passions that people have tried to steer me away from. That was my struggle. I never brought the two together. I never had reconciliation with the two. I never came to terms with the two passions. That question put me on a journey that took me back in time and through not just my history but the history of this country and of the world.

It was 1968, and there was a buzz going through my hometown of Plattsmouth, Nebraska. I vaguely remember the date and all the activities surrounding the event. The last time I saw a huge crowd of people together at once in downtown Plattsmouth was during the opening parade at the annual Cass County King Corn Carnival, now known as the Harvest Carnival. There were hundreds of people, shoulder to shoulder, wanting to get a glimpse of the person who showed up to this sleepy little town of seven thousand just a few miles south of Omaha. I remember that I got to be as close to the stage as my parents could get. I was not yet very tall, so I could not see over heads, but I do remember seeing his feet and hearing his voice and speech. It was a distinct voice, a Bostonian voice. It was Robert F. Kennedy. That was my first brush with a political superstar. After the speech, I had a chance to shake his hand and see his face, as he quickly went down the street and out of town. I got a campaign poster and put it over my bed. I was starstruck. And I was bit by the political bug.

The night that Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, I was still asleep in my bed. The next day, I found out what had happened. I cried. That night I went to bed, looked at the poster, and cried some more. My parents looked in on me to see if I was okay. When they asked, I shrugged and said that I was okay. When they left, I looked at the poster, took it down, and cried myself to sleep.

That was not the end for me. Robert F. Kennedy stirred something inside of that seven-year-old boy. I began to read books on presidents. My favorite book to check out was The Look It Up Book of Presidents. I devoured anything that had to do with presidents. That lead to history books and then political books. Librarians were on the lookout for any history books that might be of interest to me and they would hold them for me to look at. When my family went to the malls in Omaha, my parents knew exactly where to find me—at the bookstore in the history section. I found the people I was reading about fascinating and impactful. I wanted to be one of those people. I wanted to be a politician.

At the same time, a new interest was starting to vie for my attention—religion. My parents were regular church attenders of my hometown church, and they were heavily involved in church activities. They were involved in committees. They helped organized events for the church. My mom sang in the choir. My dad was involved in the decision-making committees of the church. My parents always seemed to befriend the pastors that led our church. I remember one day that my mom took communion at home one day because she had missed a Sunday and it was a communion Sunday. My folks were very devout, very religious, and they raised all six of their children accordingly. We