The State Lyrics

Lyric discussion by reytim 

Cover art for The State lyrics by Derek Webb

He could be talking about the legal doctrine of separate but equal used by the government (differences legalized?). Of course that is only a stab in the dark. The implication within the song being that since the government OK'd that concept, that makes it morally right to segregate. They (maybe the church within the US) were only concerned about it until the day they married their conscience to the state.