Quote:
Saxon said:
When you talk about religion and state, it is good to look at how Christianity is different than other religions. The “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto god what is god’s,” is fairly unique. It flavors the thinking of most people who grew up in predominantly Christian areas and makes them think that the separation of church and state is normal or at least desirable. In most of the world, that is not the case.
Many other religions either carry an explicit or implicit idea that “our religion is good and we should do what we need to do to make sure society follows the moral ideals of our religion.” This means the state should and even must implement religion. Why would you leave out a very powerful tool when you are trying to change the world.
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While the quote is certainly Biblical it really doesn't reflect the history of Christianity at all. Separation of church and state is a very modern, post-Enlightenment, thing. Consider the "divine right of kings" and similar concepts throughout most of European history. Church and State were very closely intertwined. The separation of church and state is a product of Western secularism and largely of the abuses of state churches.
It's also a concept not particularly accepted by certainly extremely vocal Christians in the US these days.