Separation of Church and State

Latter-day Saints have long adhered to the separation of church and state. Each has a unique function to fulfill in society. This policy was reiterated at the April 1942 general conference of the Church. President J. Reuben Clark read a message by the First Presidency which included the following:

The Church stands for the separation of church and state. The church has no civil political functions. As the church may not assume the functions of the state, so the state may not assume the functions of the church. The church is responsible for and must carry on the work of the Lord, directing the conduct of its members, one towards the other, as followers of the lowly Christ, not forgetting the humble, the poor and needy, and those in distress, leading them all to righteous living and a spiritual life that shall bring them to salvation, exaltation, and eternal progression in wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and power. . . . The state is responsible for the civil control of its citizens or subjects, for their political welfare, and for the carrying forward of political policies, domestic and foreign, of the body politic. For these policies, their success or failure, the state is alone responsible, and it must carry its burdens. All these matters involve and directly affect Church members because they are part of the body politic, and members must give allegiance to their sovereign and render it loyal service when called thereto. But the Church itself, as such, has no responsibility for these policies, as to which it has no means of doing more than urging its members fully to render that loyalty to their country and to free institutions which the loftiest patriotism calls for. Nevertheless, as a correlative of the principle of separation of the church and the state, themselves, there is an obligation running from every citizen or subject to the state.¹

President Clark went on to quote Article of Faith 12 and the guiding principles which the Church has consistently adhered to throughout its existence.

What concerns me today is something President Clark warned about over 60 years ago, namely, the State overstepping its appointed role and taking upon itself the role of the Church. In 1945, he wrote:

We must have in mind a skeleton of the facts that make up our problem even if they shall concern themselves with what we are now terming politics. Because today government has touched our daily lives so intimately in all their relationships, and all these governmental touchings have been so tabbed as political, that we cannot discuss anything relating to our material welfare and existence without laying ourselves liable to the charge that we are talking politics. Yet, where any matter touched by the State has to do with our spiritual welfare, our religion, the Church (meaning all churches) not only may, but must be concerned. For as the Church may not interfere with the State, so the State may not interfere with the Church, subject to certain limitations.²

What do you think?

Sources:

1. Clark, James R., ed. Messages of the First Presidency. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965. 6:155-156.↩
2. Clark, J. Reuben. Church News. 16 June 1945.↩

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