“It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.” -George WashingtonThis week, I have less time than normal to create a blog post, so I am going to keep it short. A friend gave me the link to the video at the bottom of this post earlier this week, and I thought it was an extremely intelligent and important conversation of a dilemma which seems to be sweeping America today.
I love being an American citizen. I have a great deal of national pride, and it gives me great joy to participate in the various activities which being a citizen affords me. But this country is not perfect, and there are certain trends which have arisen in the past few decades which I believe could be threatening the moral and philosophical infrastructure which has held us together for the past couple of centuries.
Separation
I am not here trying to argue anything about same-sex marriage and whether or not it should be legalized, but this issue has brought to the forefront a disconcerting conversational tactic. When someone mentions that they support the traditional view of marriage, the response is often that they are attempting to oppress others by enforcing their religion on them. Personally, I think there is far too much ill will on both sides of the debate right now, but this claim of institutionalizing religion is one which has become increasingly popular over the past several years.
I am quite a strong proponent of separating government from religion. I believe that people should be able to practice their religion without fear of oppression. I understand that governments founded in religion often abuse this authority and create harmful institutions in their own right. But I also acknowledge that telling people to check their religion at the door before discussing politics is absurd and counter-productive.
Separation of church and state is great for institutions, but it is impossible for individuals. A person's faith does (or should) affect how he thinks, and this will necessarily correspond to the way he feels society should be run. Why is this? Because our morals are derived from our philosophy, and our philosophy is guided by our faith. And many laws are nothing more than codified morality (and in other cases, codified philosophy).
Stand for Something
Like I said, I love America. But I hate modern politics. The conversations I see in the public forum, whether they come from the politicians themselves or from talking heads, are often nothing more than an appeal to popular opinion. Most candidates simply tell the public what they think the public wants to hear, in order to maximize their chances of getting elected.
Maybe I am romanticizing somewhat, but it seems to me that our leaders used to tell the public their values, and then let the public elect them (or not) based on that. Our most beloved (and most effective) presidents did not shy away from discussing their religion; on the contrary, it was at the forefront of their public image. By clearly stating their beliefs, these men gave American citizens a clear understanding of how they would conduct affairs of the state. Perhaps the public did not agree with everything the president did, but at least the people understood where his actions came from.
I believe that part of the reason the government has lost much of its efficacy is that leaders are afraid to act on their beliefs now (or perhaps they do not have solidly grounded beliefs). Honestly, I would be all right with electing a president with whom I disagreed on certain points if he (or she) would ground their political stances in some sort of firm philosophy. It is much preferable to an official with whom I probably agree but can have no assurances because of his (or her) unwillingness to discuss his beliefs. What America needs is laws based on the reasoned discussion and agreement of men of all faiths, not policies based on a morality (if that is what it can be called) separate from religion.
One final thing: while I believe Christian public officials should be guided in their decisions by their faith, I still believe that Christianity will still be relevant even if no public officials were guided by faith. After all, the church was founded under a regime in which it was ostracized, and Christianity continues to thrive where it is least expected. We have a faith which does not need to be legalized to hold sway; in fact, several places in the New Testament involve guidelines for living in a society which shuns our religion (Romans 13:1-7, Matt. 22:15-22, 1 Peter 2:13-25). Following Christ is paramount for us, no matter the context.
The video I have posted below is a talk by Dr. Os Guinness which says essentially what I have feebly been attempting to get across here. Please take the time to watch it. I think that this may be one of the most important discussions in modern Western culture.
"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
"These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds,that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see." -Revelation 3:14-18
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