Separation irony

Lee Harris points out that the concept of the separation of church and state is a purely Christian idea and that its inventor was Jesus of Nazareth, leading to the dilemma that those who advocate it are trying to impose Jesus’ teachings on their neighbors:


“Jesus separated church from state, and assigned to each its own proper sphere and domain.

This conclusion leaves the advocates for the separation of church and religion with a rather embarrassing dilemma. It was Jesus and Jesus alone who came up with a religion that insisted that the church and the state must be kept clearly separate. No one else taught this doctrine before Jesus did, and not many would teach it after him. The essential points of the Ten Commandments are shared by a myriad of different cultures; but the separation of church and state is a purely Christian idea, far more unique to it than the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation or the Virgin Birth -- themes that have abounded in other religions that did not insist on keeping church and state separate.

So we are left with a paradox. Those who advocate the separation of church and state are trying to impose Jesus's teachings on their community -- and if this doesn't violate the separation of church and state clause of the Constitution, what would?”


As Instapundit would say, read the whole thing.