The Real Problem with Big Government
There is a lot of political chatter going on this year with the presidential election coming up. And, it’s understandable since there is so much to talk about. There are some significant issues at stake for our country right now, and one of the most important matters is the role of government in our society.
On one side of the debate are the conservatives who prefer a smaller version of government and on the other side are the liberals who prefer a larger form of government. The difference between them is how much presence and how big a role they want government to have in our lives.
The political debate revolves around whether the government should provide positive and/or negative rights for its citizens. Positive rights are benefits provided to people by government, and negative rights are freedoms protected for people by government.
Those who believe government should provide positive rights see bigger government primarily as a welcome influence whereas those who believe government should only protect negative rights see bigger government essentially as an unwelcome interference.
In other words, proponents of big government think that the government should do more for its citizens than just protect their rights. They think the government ought to also provide them beneficial things such as entitlement programs and healthcare.
On the other hand, proponents of small government think that government should only protect the rights of its citizens and stay out of their way. They believe that government should only clear the path by removing obstacles to free enterprise and then leave people alone.
Up until the progressive era that started about 50 years ago, most people preferred a limited view of government. But since then, progressives have pushed for a larger, more expansive form of government in our country. So, the debate over the size and scope of government is as controversial as ever.
Many think, though, that the only reason why the size of government matters is because of the political or fiscal implications. However, I would contend that the issue of the size of government also has significant religious implications too. And, that is something we should be concerned about.
The reason why this issue matters is because of the huge divide that has been manufactured between Church and State. Ever since Thomas Jefferson’s words in a letter about a wall of separation between Church and State have been adopted, and in my view hijacked, government has steadily moved toward becoming “religion free”.
There has been a fundamental shift in government away from viewing religion as something productive that should be included in the public square to viewing religion as something divisive that should be removed from it. As a result, religion has been relegated from the public sphere to the private.
And, over time government’s view of neutrality has changed from not taking sides between different religious traditions to not siding with religion at all. Now, government unfortunately thinks neutrality means keeping government and religion completely separate.
Because of the current separation of Church and State, government has been trying to remove religion from the public square altogether, and that includes public institutions, agencies, schools and universities. Freedoms to pray publicly, to cite Scripture, and to even display religious symbols in those centers have been routinely stripped from public view.
The problem with this kind of growth is that the bigger the government becomes, the more of the public square it absorbs. And, as the government subsumes more of the public square, religious activity gets pushed out of it.
What we end up with is a completely secular square with little or no religious presence that is, in fact, mandated by law. It is scary to think what life would be like in our country should it actually become illegal to speak out about matters of religion at any level in the public square.
Because big government will end up repressing religious freedom in our culture, we should be concerned about it. The bigger the State gets, the smaller the Church and other religious institutions become. As the secular grows, the sacred shrinks, and that is why big government is a problem.
It really has nothing to do with political affiliations or parties. Rather, it has everything to do with religious liberty. The First Amendment guarantees us religious freedom and part of that freedom is the right to practice our faith in public and influence the culture in which we live.
If that religious freedom is suppressed or pushed to the fringe of society, then we will end up with a naked public square, a secular State, and a society without a conscience.
“If that religious freedom is suppressed or pushed to the fringe of society, then we will end up with a naked public square, a secular State, and a society without a conscience.” Kent,great post, but we already have this. Just think about the fact that we “society” want to kill the unborn yet protect guilty murderers from the death penalty. Our kids can not talk about God in school but can talk about transgenderism or homosexuality or a myriad of other sinful topics. Sad state of affairs.
Thanks for the comment, Rich! Yes, we do have this, but it’s not yet illegal for religion to be in the public square. That’s where we’re headed if government keeps growing.
Hey Kent,
This was refreshing to read. You did not get into the political fight between parties but gave the reasoning behind a stance that is important to the American ideology for religion and state. I have read and watch a lot of informational material on politics and the overall status quo of our country and leadership for quite some time. Too often I succumb to the type of thinking that is fed through the media network. This thinking is secular in nature and continuously looks to blame a problem on a predecessor or political party.
A couple of weeks ago I was pondering the current existing state of affairs in our country and could not help but attempt to find the root to many of our problems. Thus I was reminded of the book of Judges. I cannot help but see the similarities between wayward Israelites and wayward Americans. We started out as a country that feared and pursued God but have since lost that ambition, just like the Israelites.
Thanks, Steven. Yes, I try to avoid taking party sides. I’m on the side of the gospel, and feel compelled to speak up when there are gospel implications at stake. That’s what this post is about. I appreciate the kind words, once again.
‘separation of church and state’ is a complete farce. Most people actually think its in the constitution/law somewhere. The only time religion shows up in the constitution is when it says ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion’, where the Supreme Court (and lesser courts) get the idea that they can order prayer removed from schools, etc. etc. is a mystery. The courts job is to interpret the constitution – and the constitution says NOTHING about the states, or the schools, or the nation as a whole – it only limits CONGRESS.
You are correct, Daniel. Separation is an idea lifted from a letter Jefferson wrote and removed from its context. The supposed “wall” is a sham, and the idea is abused in order to muzzle religious influence in our country.