ABSTRACT
In the United States, the traditions of religious liberty and separation of church and state create a unique context for conflicts between religion and public authority. The growing tension along the increasingly ambiguous boundary of church and state can be related to two current trends: the phenomenal expansion of the modern state with permeation of governmental prerogatives through nearly all socioeconomic and cultural processes; and the consequent increasing fragility of the state and the precariousness of its provision of both services and legitimation. A third key trend, the expansion of the activities and functions of churches, is partly a consequence of the fragility of the overexpanded state. The convergence of diversifying “religious” operations and an expanded scope of public authority with a mandate to regulate organizations operates to maximize the potential for conflict. The upshot is a proliferation of church autonomy conflicts involving allegations that social values such as racial equality, organizational financial accountability or the prevention of child abuse, which the government is seen as responsible for enforcing, are being violated by churches conducting social service, healing, commercial, financial or educational operations. Church autonomy conflicts ensue when counter-claims are registered affirming that the state regulation is inadmissible because the separation of church and state would be violated and/or the free exercise of religion would be unduly burdened (Laycock 1981).
