I attend a church here in Costa Rica called Vida Abundante. There are several of these around the San Jose area, with the largest being in Coronado. This is an evangelical church, actually a Willow Creek affiliate church (the Chicago church pastored by Bill Hybels that pioneered the “community church” concept and has over 20,000 members and affiliates across the U.S. and around the world). The head pastor of Vida Abundante Coronado is a man named Ricardo Salazar. The church services are completely in Spanish. I follow along fairly well with my far less than fluent Spanish and I can honestly say that of all the pastors in the many churches I have experienced since I became a Christian back in 1984, Salazar is one of the very best. He was also a former player for my favorite fútbol team, Saprissa, which makes him all the better. Last night Salazar spoke on a topic that I was unaware of. That is the current proposal that the Catholic Church, or any mention of God, be stricken from the Costa Rican Constitution. What? I had no idea that it was in there in the first place. But the current front page article of the Tico Times, Costa Rica’s best English newspaper, also addresses it and there I read, in English translation: ARTICLE 75: The Roman Catholic and Apostolic Religion is the religion of the State, which contributes to its maintenance, without preventing the free exercise in the Republic of other forms of worship that are not opposed to universal morality or good customs. Holy Cow! I knew Costa Rica was predominantly Catholic (current numbers put it around 71%), but I didn’t know that Costa Rica actually had an “official state” religion. Those that want it out complain of suppression by the Catholic church. The church says that taking it out will mean more abortions, same-sex marriages and a host of other evils. However, notice where the constitution says “which contributes to its maintenance,” making it clear that one thing the church will miss out on if this proposal passes is money (but does the Vatican really need Costa Rica’s coffers for support of the church here?….I don’t think so). Religion and politics are not so strange, but nevertheless not so good, bedfellows. One’s religious faith is the most personal of all personal choices. As Salazar eloquently pointed out last night, God does not reside in constitutions, but in the hearts of the people that are governed by them. There is something about the way God created us that makes trying to force a particular religious (or anti-religious) belief onto us a very difficult thing to do. It generally brings out the rebellious side. For whatever mysterious reason, the world is full of a diversity of religious beliefs. At the same time, our planet is shrinking thanks to innovations in communication and collaboration such as the world wide web and, as a result, this diversity is more apparent now than ever. One sure way to get the whole thing to implode is to try to impose religion via government. Costa Rica in many ways is a model society….in my opinion. A model of compassionate capitalism and higher level eco-consciousness. A peaceful society with no army and a history of being neutral and peace promoting. In such a society as this, the constitution is no place for mention of any particular “church” or religious dogma. Only one true theocracy ever existed (depending on your own religious beliefs) and that was the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. As Salazar pointed out last night, that one didn’t work out too well. You see, some things sound good in theory, but lose their appeal in practice.
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