The Constitution and Religion
Religion and government have been a matter of great importance and concern for centuries, but religion makes only one direct and obvious appearance in the original constitution. The end of the third clause in Article 6 states that no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
It should be noted that without exception, the Framers were Christian or, at the very least, believed in God (Deism).
As state constitutions had a Bill of Rights, the Constitution of the United States would also frame one. In the subsequent discussions of framing a federal Bill of Rights, religious freedom was introduced as an issue. The 1st Amendment states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Although the Free exercise clause of the Constitutions First Amendment codified one of the founding principals of the U.S., “the establishment clause is implicated because the law provides special treatment to religion and thus may be seen as tending to establish some religious traditions contrary to the separation of church and state.” The notion of church and state conceptually claims that government should not become enmeshed in religion. Does this include zoning regulations on religious structures? Are we treating religions preferentially?
“In recent years congress has looked for ways to help religious institutions with these perceived problems. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 was passed by congress, but was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1997. In 2000 Congress addressed more narrowly the conflicts between local land use authorities and religious institutions with RLUIPA. Focusing on 2 areas: land-use laws and the rights of prisoners. RLUIPA provides a new tool for religious institutions in their dealings with local government. Because they frequently lack the resources of large commercial businesses and are not politically adept, religious institutions often have been incapable or unwilling to fight local land use decisions.”
Reference
The Constitution and Religion. The U.S. Constitution Online. www.usconstitution.net/consttop_reli.html (accessed November 30, 2005).
Bixler, Albert G. 2002. Religious Land Disputes. Urban Land, 2002 Nov.-Dec., v.61, 31.
Giaimo, Michael S. 2003. Church V. State. Planning, 2003 Apr., v. 69, 16.
Posted in Historical and tagged church, church v state, consitution, government, religion, state by Studio Render with 5 comments.
Reasons for Mega-Churches
Just as the industrial revolution aided in the spread of religion population growth, the advancements in recent centuries have also compounded that trend. “Today, “Mega-Churches” have up to 15,000 members and specialized facilities are spread around campuses of up to 1,000 acres.” Many factors to why or even how this change occurred can be observed. The first of which can be attributed to the number of religions that are presently followed. Covering all countries in the world it is estimated that there are some 4,300 faith groups. “In addition to Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, there are Muslim mosques, Hindu, Shinto and Buddhist temples and undefined New Age religious groups that meet in homes.” Currently it is estimated that the world population is 6.5 billion, 300 million who live in the United States. In 2002, 88% of people in the United States claimed they were affiliated with some type of religion. The map below shows the major religion per state.
If we only look at the Catholic religion, which is the major religion in most all states, has an estimated 23,000 churches across the United States where its 53 million parishioners worship. If evenly spread for each of the 50 states that would be 460 Catholic churches per state with an average of 2,400 adherents per church. Taking into account the remaining religions, we can deduct that the population of religious adherents could be a factor in the rise of “Mega-Churches”.
This rise can also been due to the willingness of worshippers to drive a distance to a place they feel comfortable. The shear number of potential congregants has multiplied exponentially compared to the walking distance community central church. Choice and competition are now helping make decisions on where to worship. While marketing and tailored programs to attract congregants are now the tools of the modern religion.
Worship has also changed; Religion has modernized its approach to service. Service now is known to include stage lighting, video screens, alternative services and expanded services. Services are now held on almost any day of the week or at least some type of event sponsored by the religious institution.
The paradigm for the liturgy is once again the theatrical event, in which the priest and ministers are the actors.
The church building is now used for more reasons than worship. “Besides its primary role of providing a suitable place for the celebration of the liturgical rites, the church building also offers a place to which individuals may come to pray in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and in which groups of the faithful may gather for a rich variety of devotions expressive of the faith life of a give culture, region, or ethnic community.” The program of a typical religious building now consists of a bookstore, child care center, preschool, computer labs, gymnasium and youth ministries, no longer just a space to worship, a table and a chair.
Posted in Editorial and tagged architecture, buildings, christianity, church, churches, jewish, religion, worship by Studio Render with 31 comments.
