Some Thoughts on the Relations Among Government, Religion, and Spontaneous Orders

Literature is a dangerous business. It can save or condemn one's soul. It tells us something about who we are and how we related to one another, acting as critique of one's soul, one's culture, one's society. That is why so much literature has been censored throughout the centuries -- by both religious authorities and governments. Literature is important and dangerous, or else pro-government and other religious people would not be so up in arms over it.

Science is a dangerous business. It can save or condemn one's soul. It tells us something about the fundamental nature of things -- of the universe, of life, of mind, of society. That is why so much science has been censored or misinterpreted or misused throughout the centuries -- by both religious authorities and governments. Science is important and dangerous, or else pro-government and other religious people would not be so up in arms over it.

Religion is a dangerous business. It can save or condemn one's soul. It tells us something about our relationships to each other, the universe, and the divine. That is why so many religions have been censored throughout the centuries -- by both religious authorities and governments. Religion is important and dangerous, or else pro-government and other religious people would not be so up in arms over it.

The arts were the first of these spontaneous orders to decouple from government and religion. The argument for that decoupling was that the arts are far too important to be controlled by government or religion. This decoupling has become so complete in the West that many now consider the arts to be completely unimportant -- precisely because they are decoupled from government and religion.

The sciences were the next of these spontaneous orders to decouple from government and religion. The argument for that decoupling was that the sciences are far too important to be controlled by government or religion. This decoupling is not quite so complete in the West, but in those areas where it is completely decoupled, that science has been declared not very important, while in those areas where government and religion are still involved, the science is declared vitally important. (Yes, I know many will challenge me on this, and argue the causality is backwards -- but consider the history of the arts and, below, of religion.)

Religion is a more recent of these spontaneous orders to decouple from government and religion. The argument for that decoupling was that religion is far too important to be controlled by government (or the religion that government would make the state religion). In places where religion has become decoupled from government, and where government is considered the proper replacement for religion, religion has been declared not very important (consider those who argue that economics, not religion, is the driving force behind al Qaida!).

Of course, during the time when these spontaneous orders were becoming decoupled from government and religion, many in both argued that the arts, the sciences, and religion were too important not to have strict political and religious controls over them. This is the situation with the economic spontaneous order at the present time. Yet, one could argue, as was done with the arts, science, and religion, that it is too important to be controlled by either. Once decoupled from them, it is likely that the economic order, over time, will come to be seen as "not very important" as well. Of course, once there is a separation of economy and state and the freed market makes us all wealthy, it won't be all that important.