Anyone who dares to advocate for basic Christian morality today is almost guaranteed to receive a firm lecture on the importance of separating church and state. Ironically, such rebukes often come not only from secularists but from Christians themselves—even Christian politicians who go out of their way to clarify that their positions are rooted in some neutral moral framework, not in their faith. This fear of being seen as theocratic or “crossing a line” into religious governance has conditioned many to keep faith and politics in completely separate spheres.

However, the unfortunate truth is that most people who invoke the phrase “separation of church and state” have little understanding of what it actually means. For many, it has become shorthand for separating religion (that is, Christianity) from politics entirely, as if lawmakers can and should function without reference to their most deeply held moral convictions. Not only is this impossible, but it’s fundamentally hypocritical—expecting individuals to believe one thing privately and operate on another set of principles publicly.

In reality, all law is legislated morality, and all morality is rooted in religion. Morality deals not with how things are, but how they ought to be according to a transcendent standard. Historically, in the Western world, that standard was Christianity.

The original idea of separating church and state wasn’t about neutering Christianity from public life. It was about preventing either institution from encroaching on the other’s God-given responsibilities. In ancient Israel, kings came from the tribe of Judah, and priests from the tribe of Levi. Church and state were distinct, but worked in concert: the church administered the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit, and the state wielded the sword of justice. Neither had the authority to absorb the other.

This biblical model served a critical function. The church acted as a moral compass, declaring what was right and just according to Scripture. The state was accountable to God’s law, and its legitimacy depended on conformity to that higher standard. When the state transgressed God’s commands, believers had both the right and the duty to resist (Acts 5:29). Likewise, when the church overreached and sought temporal power, it too could be opposed.

Western history, we’re told, includes dark chapters where this balance was lost, and the church supposedly wielded the sword inappropriately. These abuses are the ones that dominate popular memory and media. In movies and television, anyone with power who quotes Scripture is almost always the villain. We’ve been taught to associate Christianity in politics with oppression, and this cultural conditioning has made us wary, particularly of Christian influence in political life.

But this “cautionary tale” has been weaponised. While we were told to fear a Christian theocracy, a more insidious shift occurred: the state began to absorb the functions of the church. The language of tolerance and pluralism was used not to keep the government neutral, but to sideline Christianity. Secularists told us they were defending democracy and fairness. In truth, they were replacing God’s moral authority with their own.

In our eagerness to protect the state from religious influence, we have allowed the state to become religious in itself. It now dictates morality, not based on divine revelation, but on political expediency. Once the church was removed from its role as moral guide, the state didn’t remain morally neutral; it simply filled the vacuum.

As a result, the state became both lawgiver and moral arbiter. Blasphemy laws still exist, not to protect the sacred, but to guard the state’s new dogmas. Criticise state-endorsed ideologies, and you’re branded a heretic. Speak against “progressive” orthodoxy, and you may lose your job, your freedom, or your children.

We were told to fear the church becoming the state, but we never considered the possibility of the state becoming the church.

Modern Western states now operate as religious institutions in all but name. They raise children, educate them, care for the elderly, and determine moral norms. They preach secular sermons in classrooms and courtrooms. They demand loyalty to their evolving dogmas. Christian morality has been demoted to one voice among many, often portrayed as the most outdated and oppressive, while the state imposes its own moral vision through laws, mainstream media, excessive taxation, and policy.

This has created a new form of tyranny, one in which the state is accountable to no higher power. It doesn’t just govern—it disciplines, indoctrinates, and excommunicates dissenters. Its high priests wear suits, not robes; its sacred texts are written in legalese, not Scripture. Consequently, the church has not overtaken the state, the state has consumed the church.

The results are already visible. Laws are no longer based on timeless, objective, Christian truths, but on the whims of political elites. Morality shifts with the polls. Mothers are jailed for offensive tweets. Workers are fired for refusing to affirm state-approved ideologies. Words once grounded in objective truth—justice, equality, love—are now redefined to suit partisan agendas. Yesterday’s righteousness has become today’s bigotry.

We no longer live under Christianity, but under a new state religion—dogmatic, punitive, and entirely man-made. But this was inevitable. When civil government refuses to acknowledge God above the state, the state inevitably exalts itself as god over the people.

Christianity once placed necessary limits on political power. But without it, the state is free to expand without restraint. When Christ is recognised as the highest authority, human rights are understood as God-given. Remove Christ, and those rights become state-sanctioned privileges—granted by rulers, and just as easily revoked.

As such, the church must reclaim its God-ordained authority, not to dominate the state, but to once again serve as the nation’s moral compass. It must boldly preach the unchanging Word of God, and call both people and rulers to account. The church must not allow itself to be co-opted or silenced by an overreaching government. Its ministry is not a matter of private faith but of public truth.

What we need is not less Christianity in politics, but more clarity about the roles of church and state. Each has a God-given purpose. The state is not the ultimate authority. Jesus Christ is. And any system that seeks to replace Him will ultimately collapse under the weight of its own contradictions and injustice.

We were told to fear the church becoming the state so that we wouldn’t notice the state becoming the church. Now, morality is arbitrary, chaos is increasing, and justice has been politicised. The only remedy is a return to true biblical order—where the church speaks for God, and the state governs under God.

Until then, we remain at the mercy of a state religion disguised as secular governance. And that is the very tyranny we were told Christianity would bring.