Defending America’s Best Idea

Historian and author Randall Balmer would like to apologize to Ken Burns. Well, kind of. He also wants to explain why the famed filmmaker is wrong.

“I have to sort of apologize to Ken Burns,” Balmer said on this week’s episode of Dangerous Dogma. “Ken Burns thinks that the National Parks are America’s best idea. And with all my deference and respect for Ken Burns, because I think he’s really a brilliant filmmaker, I have to disagree. I think America’s best idea is the First Amendment and the separation of church and state. And I think it’s America’s best idea because it’s worked so well from both sides.”

Balmer made his remarks in the first of a three-part special podcast series produced in partnership with Moravian Theological Seminary. Upcoming episodes will feature conversations with Angela Parker and William Stell. Joining me as a guest cohost for the Balmer conversation was Jared Burkholder, scholar in residence at Moravian. Burkholder will be giving the annual Walter Vivian Moses Lecture on Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. ET at the Bahnson Center on the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, campus of Moravian. It will also be livestreamed for free (and you can sign up to tune in).

Screengrab as Brian Kaylor (left) and Jared Burkholder (right) talk with Randall Balmer on this week’s episode of Dangerous Dogma.

Balmer is the author of a new book that goes to the heart of his comment about Burns, America’s Best Idea: The Separation of Church and State. As Balmer talked about the history of church-state separation and how it was good for both government and religion, he also expressed how he remains surprised to see many evangelicals today criticize the concept.

“I’m genuinely perplexed that so many people on the Religious Right want to undermine America’s best idea, the First Amendment. I am genuinely perplexed about this, and particularly for evangelicals,” he said. “Evangelicals have competed in this free marketplace of religion set up by the First Amendment better than any other group throughout American history.”

“The Founders wisely chose not to designate any one faith as the state religion,” Balmer added as he recounted colonial history. “The separation of church and state, the First Amendment has worked remarkably well throughout American history for people of faith, for religious folks. And to try to undermine that, for whatever reason, it seems to me is terribly, terribly short-sighted.”

During the conversation, Balmer also talked about how the Southern Baptist Convention moved away from the historic Baptist support of church-state separation, the push for Christian Nationalism in public schools, and efforts to get churches involved in partisan politics. And as he looks at these shifts on church-state separation over the last several decades, he doesn’t like what he sees.

“This, of course, has had all sorts of very nasty consequences, culminating now in all this rhetoric about Christian Nationalism, posting the Ten Commandments in public places,” he added. “And by the way, Ten Commandments? These are supposed to be Christian Nationalists. Ten Commandments? I mean, if they really want to post Christian principles in public schools, why not go with the Beatitudes or Matthew 25?”

Joe Zamecki protests outside a Texas Board of Education meeting near the state Capitol in Austin, Texas, on July 21, 2011. (Eric Gay/Associated Press)

You can hear more from Randall Balmer on this week’s episode of Dangerous Dogma. You can listen to the audio version here (or subscribe in your favorite podcast platform), and you can watch the video version here. Additionally, you can sign up here for the free livestream of the Moses Lecture to be given by Jared Burkholder on Oct. 29.

As a public witness,

Brian Kaylor