We have been called a Christian nation. Muslims around the world view us this way
simply because the overwhelming number of religious people in the U.S. claim Christianity
as their basic religion. Though next in
line would be Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu faiths respectively. Atheists and agnostics make up only a small
percentage of the nation. Occult and
Satanist religions even smaller than that (though occult is defined in the eye
of the beholder). So even though
Christians make up the majority of the population to date, they are not the
fastest growing belief system in the U.S..
Muslims hold this distinction. It
might be better to call us a nation of faith or beliefs than a truly Christian
nation.
Going back to our beginning we find that our founding
fathers were largely Christian believers.
They applied Christian thinking and morality to the nation’s first set
of founding principles and laws. They
publicly talked about their devotion in speeches to both private and public
audiences. In essence, religious speech
was not uncommon in governmental bodies as the nation first began to define
itself. They prayed in Congress, put
chaplains in the military. and were unabashed about speaking publicly about
their faith. They were not perfect, nor
are we, but they did believe.
However with the inquisition a not so far away phenomenon;
and having recently emerged from the dark ages, our founding fathers did see
the wisdom of allowing for the freedom of religion, by keeping the state out
it. When religious and political power
were united (as they were first in Rome, then in England) great persecution
arose in the name of God (but more accurately for the greed of gold). Many died for no other reason than a
differing faith or belief system, their wealth forfeited to either state or
church or both.
So our nation became founded on Christian attitudes and
prevailing morality, but chose to make the distinction between the church and
the state. In point of fact we were the
first country to make such an issue of this.
But we were not the first advocate of it. Christ Himself, while here on earth, answered
one of those meant-to-trip-you-up questions by saying … “render unto to Caesar
the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” This was the first admonition to separate how
we think about government and religion, and was ironically proposed from within
Christianity. Christ Himself laid out
for us our proper priorities. Money was
to go to the government, and our hearts were to belong to God. Oh that we could learn that lesson, rather
than so often reversing it.
A study of Biblical prophesy talks a great deal about the
Beast, and his image. Many
characteristics of the Beast are articulated throughout scripture, but the most
compelling trait was his desire to control the conscience of men on pain of
death. The Beast (an enemy of the church
throughout scripture) tried to make men think a certain way. He wants and demands worship and
adoration. And according to the
scripture, a great many people follow after the Beast and his image. Why is this important?
Because scripture also refers to a new nation that rises up
in the world and helps the church. That
new nation is us. Our country arises
across the sea and restores freedom for religion to the world. Those that believe can live here free from
persecution, inquisition, and death. The
church is free to grow here at least for a while. But alas, we do not remain true to our values
according the same sets of prophesy.
Eventually we begin to speak just like the Beast. Note this does not mean we are forsaking religion,
rather the contrary, it means we are uniting with it to compel the conscience
of man. Sound familiar?
It is NOT a gradual slide into liberalism, or atheism, that
causes us to become like the Beast. It
is the unification of religion and political power that attempt to control the
will. Christ never compelled anyone to
follow Him. He authored freedom of
choice for all creation, even when that creation made the wrong choice back in
the garden. There was no forced will
then, and there is no forced will now.
There is an offer extended to man, but nothing to force him to accept
it. Satan on the other hand, is all too
happy to enforce his will on your mind, heart, body, and soul. The very nature of evil is to corrupt and
control the mind of man. And so like its
author, the Beast begins to speak like Satan.
Uniting the spiritual with the political under the name of “good” but
with every action resulting in pure “evil”.
And worst of all, Christians are driving the truck. It is the siren call of Christians who want
to reclaim our nation’s morality that are responsible for speaking like the
Beast and the Dragon that preceded him.
What is it they say about good intentions paving the way to … hell. And this is the road we are on today. Republicans, though wounded by the results of
the last election have not softened their positions on social tolerance in any
way. Rather they believe they lost
because of their LACK of firmness to their values. Today’s Republican party is emerging from
defeat even farther to the right, than to the center. It’s most popular spokes people prove this
point again and again.
Ironically it is not the entire Republican agenda that is a
problem. Fiscal responsibility, small
government, strong defense, wide personal freedoms, and local oversight are
excellent principles upon which to build a political party. But mix in extra helpings of hate posing as
religious fundamentalism, and you excite a base to take “mob” action, rather
than deliberate tolerance. Homosexuals
and abortionists are no more enemies of Christ than are adulterers and gossip
mongers. There is no compelling
spiritual reason to single out a particular set of evil for a zero-tolerance
policy when this is not universally applied to every other set of bad
behavior. It is the devil’s work to try
to legislate morality.
It is not the duty of the Christian to try to stamp out sin
in the world. It is the duty of the
Christian to love his enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those
who persecute you. In short, it is the
duty of Christians to love. There is no
mention of sin in our list of responsibilities.
Those that wish to call sin by its proper name often use this language
to hide their true meaning – they wish to call other people sinners, or hold
people accountable publicly for their sins.
To truly call sin by its right name would involve only defining it as it
truly is – PAIN. All sin is inextricably
linked to pain, whether felt immediately or over a longer term. To point out the destructive nature of sin,
without accusing anyone else or condemning anyone else, is to truly define
sin. Condemnation has never been our
responsibility, nor has it ever saved anyone.
Whereas love has done more, and accomplished more than you could
possible ever fully define.
Rather than spending our energies in trying to legislate sin
out of the world, and God back into our nation.
Why don’t we exert the same energy in submitting our prideful will to
God’s control and learn how to truly love each other as well as those who
disagree with us and our beliefs. There
is still time to redefine Christian values from out of the mouth of the Beast
and back to the source of all love. Let
us learn to emulate our humble leader, who though He was God on earth, He was
servant to us all ...
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