As someone who does not believe in the divinity of Christ or in the Bible as the word of God, I am grateful for the constitutional separation of church and state.

My gratitude is top of mind lately as I read the conversation in the comments of one of Rick’s posts.

It is difficult enough discerning the meaning of the constitution without having to also determine the meaning of the Bible.

The conversation linked to above concerns polygyny and whether the Christian God approves or not.  If you are a Christian, I guess that means something.  But what it means depends on what kind of Christian one is and how one reads the Bible.  And, of course, everyone thinks they read it correctly.  But if one is not a Christian, then what the Christian God says has no more relevence than what Odin has to say.

Whether the country should allow polygyny (or homosexual marriage) is a public policy question.  A public policy question should be decided based on real world evidence of what is happening in the world today and what the constitution says (and maybe changing the constitution if necessary).  The principle considerations should be whether someone is being harmed or not, and whether a given outcome enhances civil peace and prosperity or diminishes it.