Should churches be polling locations?

Do we as a nation believe in separation of church and state, or is it a myth? The answer doesn’t come easy.

Christian nationalists, such as Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and others, seem to believe the opposite.

Our money announces, “In God we trust” — at least the $5 bill in my wallet says so.

And where we vote, well, that further confuses things.

Nationwide, a survey by Christianity Today estimates that slightly more than 20% of all polling places are located within churches. In some cities, such as Kansas City, Mo., a little more than half of voters cast a ballot at a church in the most recent primary. And with an increasing number of school districts declining to host polling sites, including Arizona’s largest public school district, the percentage of voters casting a ballot in a house of worship might soon be a lot higher.

Mesa Public School District near Phoenix has decided not to open its schools to voters as polling sites because of the fear of violence.

The Washington Post reported the amount of polling at schools in the district in 2016 was 37%. This year it’s down to 14%.

And where do you think people will vote when schools turn them away? More than likely, churches.

I’m used to voting at churches. I don’t think I’ve ever voted at a school. One year, I went to a senior living center but found out I was in the wrong place. The right place? A church.

The voting doesn’t happen in the sanctuary often, and the fellowship halls or other rooms where polling centers are most likely to be set up often resemble a community center.

But you can’t miss the giant crosses or other signage belonging to faith communities as you pull in. Does it matter?

And where did we get this idea from, anyway? A hundred years before the Constitution lived Roger Williams, who is credited in 1644 with the idea of a “wall or hedge of separation” between the world and the church. The Freedom Forum wrote that Williams believed that “mixing the two would cause both to become corrupt.”

The Constitution doesn’t spell out this required separation in so many words, but it’s in the First Amendment’s guarantee that says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” — where we find what was on the mind of the Founding Fathers.

Thomas Jefferson first used the phrase in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association. Jefferson emphasized that the First Amendment built “a wall of separation between church and state.”

In these days of instant news and TikTok sound bites, optics are everything and everywhere. That’s why voting at a church seems incongruent with Jefferson’s idea. So, if we hold true in the beliefs of our founders, why does our society appear to say otherwise?

Look at the Supreme Court. Governing magazine examined the history behind the separation of church and state in American court rulings and found a general softening in recent years.

John Roberts was confirmed as chief justice in 2005, and since then the court has ruled in favor of religious organizations 83% of the time, according to the magazine.

The court’s rulings have been friendly to faith, especially recently. In the past two years alone, the court has overturned decades of precedent and allowed a public high school football coach to host prayers at midfield after games and for public education funding to be used for tuition at private schools.

Christian nationalism

A public opinion poll by PRRI, a nonpartisan research organization, found that approximately 30% of Americans either adhere to or sympathize with the idea of Christian nationalism, based on five statements:

• The U.S. government should declare America a Christian nation.

• U.S. laws should be based on Christian values.

• If the U.S. moves away from our Christian foundations, we will not have a country anymore.

• Being Christian is an important part of being truly American.

• God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.

Not all of us agree, even among the faith community. Michael Stephens, pastor of Southwood United Church of Christ in the Raytown suburb of Kansas City, told me of monthly gatherings that push back against Christian nationalism, and restate the need for separation of church and state. They have also organized and participated in marches across the region aimed at challenging the messages of Christian nationalism.

The Founding Fathers, who generally believed in a central God as much as a central government, agreed with separation.

In his 1785 book “Notes on the State of Virginia,” Jefferson wrote: “The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

That was 239 years ago. What do people in the faith community say today?

Alan Edelman, chairperson of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, told me he thinks the separation not only exists, but is necessary. The GKCIC represents 24 distinct faith philosophies, including Christian, Jewish, Islam, Hindu, Baha’i, Buddhist and more.

Edelman said: “Although some in our country would like to promote it as a myth, it is one of the foundations of our democracy. When we consider the number of people who have been killed in the ‘name of God’ throughout the centuries (and sadly today), it is clear why it is important to value and promote the separation of church and state. Thank God our Founding Fathers understood that.”

Yvette Walker is a columnist for The Kansas City (Mo.) Star.