Pennsylvania's Strange Relationship with Christianity

The American state of Pennsylvania has had one of the most bizarre relationships with the christian religion. In many ways Pennsylvania represents what Christianity loves about the Church-State relationship and also what it detests. It was both a haven from religious persecution and a breeding ground for the worst Christian heresies (depending on one's viewpoint). It pioneered religious toleration and also demonstrated the supremacy of science over religion.

The "Quaker State" represents the ultimate or logical conclusion of the Protestant reform movement which began as a protest against the practices of the only organized unit of Christianity. Once the singularity of Catholicism (the universal church) was broken, different organizational structures could emerge. They emerged early on as nationalistic structures which opposed the international concept of one Christendom. Part of this nationalism became reflected in the cultural and lingual distinctions of various regions (Lutherans with German speaking regions, Huguenots with French, Presbyterians with Scottish and English, etc.). The most nationalistic of these was the Church of England, the official "church" of the nation.

The logical progression of Protestantism continued from the universal church to the nationalistic churches and then to the community or congregational churches best represented in the Baptist traditions. With Baptist communities there is no national or overarching organizational structure. Instead, each church becomes a "congregation of believers" all to its own. The final step in this process was for the individual himself to be a church all to his own and this is the Quaker tradition. Its official name as the Religious Society of Friends truly depicts this concept of individualism. With every individual able to possess the same Spirit of God there could be no social superiors. The Quakers were egalitarian, pacifistic, democratic, and religiously tolerant of all faiths.

When William Penn, the foremost Quaker in Europe, found the political landscape too unaccommodating, he did what the Puritans before him had done. He moved to America where he founded the colony of Pennsylvania. Thanks to Penn's influence the colony became the only true haven from religious prosecution. In the 18th century the only place a Catholic could legally attend mass in the entire English speaking world was Pennsylvania.

One of the most persecuted of all religious faiths following the protestant reformation was a group known as the "anabaptists." Anabaptism began in the 1520s with the concept that justification by faith meant one had to consciously decide to believe in the savior. Faith was not something that could be simply handed out by a Priest. This meant that infant baptism did not mean anything. One wasn't truly a christian until one chose to be baptized. This had the unfortunate consequence of putting them at odds with both Catholics and other Protestants. Far more anabaptists were gruesomely burned at the stake than the number of christians ever killed by the Romans. What remained of the anabaptist community coalesced in Holland under Menno Simons. Today they are recognized as Mennonites. An offshoot of some Swiss Mennonites found no place in Europe tolerable. And in this sense, "tolerable" mean being able to stay alive. They moved to the only place where they could avoid persecution and death. They settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and are recognized today as the Amish.

Not only did church communities find a safe haven in the state, but the church buildings did as well. In order to keep church steeples from burning down the entire church because of lightening strikes, it was the very non-Christian Benjamin Franklin who invented the lightening rod to provide them protection. In essence, Ben Franklin saved the church structure. It was this same Ben Franklin who did more than any other founding father to keep Christianity from being recognized as the national religion.

In yet another piece of ironic history, the earliest abolitionist movements in America to call for an end to slavery began in Pennsylvania among the Quakers. However; the only U.S. President to come from Pennsylvania was Presbyterian James Buchanan who recommended the Constitution be amended to guarantee slavery where it existed.

Even the name for the state's second largest city has a strange connection to Christianity. The city of Pittsburgh is named after British Secretary of State William Pitt (the Elder). It was Pitt's son (William Pitt, the Younger) who tried to ban the concept of Christian Sunday School because it fostered a challenge to state order by teaching commoners to read. What these commoners read was not what the established nobility preferred, especially during the time of the French Revolution. Ironically, the early Christian Sunday School movement began in Great Britain as a means for maintaining order among youths in the era of child labor.

Finally, the ironic relationship between Pennsylvania and Christianity culminated in 2005 with the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial. This trial pitted Christianity against science and the teaching of evolution in schools. Trying to stand up against the non-Christian view of the origin of species, Christianity failed miserably and its proponents were exposed as liars. In symbolic fashion all the school board members that had supported the Christian view were booted from office leading evangelical Christian preach Pat Robertson to warn that God had turned his back on the Pennsylvania community and that if disaster struck they should not be surprised. The State has certainly had a strange and turbulent relationship with Christianity.