Whose laws? Church vs. state

News agencies overlook a root problem related to the Arizona Latter-day Saints sex abuse controversy. The problem is as much theology as institutional transparency and legislation.  

Many American churches today believe the Christian church is superior to civil society, so they prefer a system of church investigation and discipline over societal discovery and criminal process.  

Many religious leaders today simply don’t accept that civil society is legitimate in the eyes of God. Only the church can be trusted to handle issues the way God wants, especially if the problem relates to church members.  

This is exactly why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ignored the laws of the United States against polygamy for 25 years before finally saying “uncle” in the 1880s. God, the church reasoned, wanted plural marriage and civil society could not comprehend or support that.  

But civil society has contributed to the misunderstanding as well. Many in civil society have championed an absolute separation of church and state. Let the state handle the state’s business, and the church handle the church’s business.   

Until and unless Christian church leaders recognize civil society as part of God’s plan, and unless and until secular political leaders recognize the organic interrelatedness of all institutions in a democracy and hold all of them accountable, this kind of misunderstanding will continue.