secular systems, at least within the United States, than are found in the concept of sovereign immunity and in the act of apostasy. Sovereign immunity refers to the principle that the sovereign, which within the United States refers primarily to the federal government, cannot be the target of criminal or civil prosecution or action. In essence, the state can do no wrong. Apostasy on the other hand is defined in A Church dictionary, by Walter Farquhar Hook, as “A forsaking or renouncing of our religion, either formally, by an open declaration in words, or virtually, by our actions.” As defined by the Constitution, the comparable act with regard to the United States is termed treason.

Treason is a crime specified by the Constitution. From the perspective of the model that we are pursuing, treason entails an act of apostasy against the trust infrastructure that forms the basis of governance within the United State. While Congress can establish the punishment for treason, the specifics of the criminal act itself are defined in Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution. There, we find that “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.” The fact that the crime of treason is rarely prosecuted, whether during times of war or peace, is a testament to the power of metaphorical understanding. In normal situations, adherence to a person or a person’s ideas is a well defined concept. Similarly, the concepts of providing aid and comfort are relatively straightforward as well. Given the spectrum of political thought within the United States, this would seem to constitute a rather low bar that an overt act must clear in order to be rendered treason. In fact, however, the bar is viewed by the courts as being quite high indeed. Nonetheless, the crime is there; established within the primary trust infrastructure of the social order. Consider then its corollary within more purely religious orders.

The first of the Ten Commandments found in both Christianity and Judaism includes the admonition, “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” In either religion, to renounce the primacy of God is to commit an act of apostasy. Within a theistic religion, the specification of policy is typically perceived to come directly from the deity. Hence, the admonition is one grounded within the trust infrastructure of the social ecosystem. Under both Christianity and Judaism, the punishment for leaving the faith is a judgment to be ultimately rendered by God. Under Roman Catholicism, the limit of earthly punishment is typically excommunication; in essence, a direct recognition by the social order of the act of the apostate. Under Islam, the crime of apostasy is treated much more severely; particularly within theocratic states. There, the punishment can be death.

With respect to the concept of sovereign immunity, the major theistic religions indicate that the actions of God are without limit and without suppliant recourse. We will consider this concept in a bit more detail in Chapter 10. For the moment, we note that within these theistic religions, God is perceived to work in mysterious ways and for reasons not to be questioned by man. The net result is that one can sue neither God nor government.

Just as ostensibly secular governance often takes on the trappings of religious ritual, religious dogma in turn insinuates itself into secular government through the establishment of community morals and tenets of ethical conduct. Within the Christian Bible, Jesus establishes a demarcation between church and state through the admonition “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” Although Western Democracy as typified by the United States federal government extols this philosophy, it is often realized only with significant strings attached. For example, while the separation of church and state is prominently mandated, the ostensibly secular state involves itself with the concept of marriage, which is most typically associated with religious dogma. It does this by blending the concept of marriage with

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