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Those worried that evangelicals' participation in politics may produce a theocracy may take comfort from Western Europe, where church and state have mingled for centuries. The closer church and state get, the more the church looks like the state.

Almost two years ago, a Danish minister said, "There is no heavenly God, there is no eternal life, there is no resurrection." After making the statement in an interview, Thorkild Grosboell was suspended by his bishop. But because the Evangelical Lutheran Church is the state church of Denmark, the bishop could not fire the disbelieving pastor. Only the government can do that, and "the government refused, saying he should be given another chance to explain himself to Jan Lindhardt, a regional bishop who has been one of his few defenders," according to the Associated Press. "Lindhardt has said that although he disagrees with Grosboell's views, there should be room for him in Denmark's state church."

On Sunday, Grosboell returned to his pulpit in Taarbaek. Grosboell recently renewed his ministry vows, but said his views about God have not changed.

In England, the intricacies of church/state relations have produced a strange requirement for gay clergy who are now allowed to register for civil unions. "The new law leaves [church officials] little choice but to accept the right of gay clergy to have civil partners," says the London Times. Despite the legal requirement, the church still requires gay clergy to remain celibate.

So the church compromised. "Homosexual priests in the Church of England will be allowed to 'marry' their boyfriends under a proposal drawn up by senior bishops, led by Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury. … They will, however, have to give an assurance to their diocesan bishop that they will abstain from sex."

That's far from the Puritan requirement that a marriage be consummated before it is official.

Though the requirements may be changed before a final draft is approved by the House of Bishops, some bishops are already uncomfortable with them. "We all have clergy in gay partnerships in our dioceses, and there is a genuine reluctance on the part of a number of us to make their lives more difficult," said one bishop.

It seems those fearing theocracy have little to worry about.

Church & state:

• Baptists, remember who you are | It's time for America's Baptists to hear that message. And helping them remember that they were pioneers — champions of not only religious freedom but a separation between church and state — is the goal of a new effort involving two Baptist-based media organizations — Associated Baptist Press and the journal Baptists Today — and the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty. (Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
• Air Force Academy has become 'Team Jesus Christ' | There is significant cross-pollination between the local evangelical groups and the academy, to the point where cadets are reportedly cajoled, harangued and even bullied into being ''saved.'' (Robyn Blumner, Salt Lake Tribune)
• It's Academic: Off we go, into wild Christian yonder | Air Force Academy has no business evangelizing (Jonathan Chait, Houston Chronicle)
• Religious expression by government officials | Is Hawaii becoming a theocracy? (Hawaii Reporter)
• High court to decide prickly cases soon | By the term's end, the justices are expected to rule on several hot-button issues, including religion and file sharing. (Los Angeles Times)
• Thou shalt know commandments' standing soon | Should the U.S. Supreme Court rule that the tablet's placement in the seat of Texas government violates the constitutional separation between church and state, the monument could become the centerpiece for emotional protests. (Express-News, San Antonio)

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June (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49