(Credit goes to Bishop Conley of Lincoln & his friend Harry Biltz for 1st coining the word “atheocracy.”)
The “wall of separation between church and state” doesn’t mean the public square should be free from the presence or influence of faith. It means our faith is free from the strong arming influence of the state, and we can express it ANYWHERE and let it influence every activity we engage in (not just the way we worship behind closed doors…but, for example, even the kind of health care we people of faith provide our employees). I’m not pushing for theocracy. But the opposite extreme is an “atheocracy,” which would put our deepest convictions about God, who we are, and the meaning of life under the control of a state that picks where, when, and how we express those convictions. In such a state, true freedom is dead. (The HHS mandate is about more than insurance for contraception and abortifacients, folks.)
