i read in USA today about this group of ministers in ohio who are banding
together in order to promote “value voters”, in other words, people who
vote based on moral reasoning. i felt like responding a bit to this.
United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, Article One:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
This is the basis for the idea of separation of church and state. There is
a reason that this was included in the Bill of Rights. It is to keep the
government from establishing a state religion, and thereby suppressing any
other religions. Many religions do, and more should see this as a great
victory for religious freedom and the ability to worship according to the
dictates of one’s conscience. For example, early Christians would not have
been persecuted by the pagan Roman empire had such a right existed.
To me, the separation of church and state is inspired and one of the
greatest accomplishments of modern times. So what is up with all of this
mixing of religion and government crap lately? We re-elected a president
over things like gay marriage, which apparently is a lot more important
than stopping multiple wars where many lives, including Americans and
civilians, are being lost. That really confuses me to tell the truth. It
seems to me that the phrase “love one another” or some variation of it
occurs a lot more times in the Bible than the few condemnations of
homosexuality. And anyway, doesn’t the government exist to establish and
maintain our basic liberties and freedoms, not dictate the morals of
a nation?
I feel as if some “conservatives” (I’m not sure I can call them actual
conservative, because they are not politically and economically
conservative in many ways in the historical sense, but morally) have been
breaking the second commandment, namely “Thou shalt not take the name of
the LORD thy God in vain.” This commandment refers to acting in the name
of God with improper motives. For example, being a Christian merely for
the social aspects, without actually living by the tenets of the faith.
And as a second example, trying to win a political victory by using God to
sway voters.
God has decided to not become involved in politics right now. I mean, if
He wanted a theocracy, couldn’t he very easily create one? It’s been done
in the past. But it certainly appears to me the He would rather keep
religion and state separated right now.
Another reason using God to gain a political office is breaking the
commandment is those politicians often are going into office with a much
different agenda than merely forcing their own morals on the population.
The Republican party used to be synonymous with little government, big
business. That is starting to no longer be the case. Republicans now
appear to be all for big government, especially when the corporations that
pay for their campaigns want it. Not to say that Democrats are much
better. But at least they aren’t trying to hide behind the face of
religion.
The government is increasingly coming under the control of money and
corporations. Recent rulings by the Supreme Court to allow the seizing of
private property for economic development are just examples. I wonder how
the average American would feel if they really understood some of the
bills Congress passes, and just what kinds of freedom they are losing, all
because of corporate lobbying. Did you know that we are getting closer and
closer to copyrights being extended indefinitely? (thank you Disney) This
hardly can be said to be for the continuation of the arts (wanna have to
pay every time you listen to a song?) and sciences (forget about science
being to help humanity…if you want scientific info, you gotta fork over
the cash) as copyright was originally intended to.
But I digress. My point is, religion and morals appear to be a mere facade
for the types of things really going on in politics. Hence, using the
Lord’s name in vain. The government exists to maintain our liberties and
freedom, so to say that it must not take part in any issues that are
related to “morals” would be silly. For example, though abortion is
a moral issue, it also involves fundamental freedoms, of women and
fetuses. Therefore, the government should be involved. On the other hand,
homosexuality involves the private actions of two consenting adults, and
while I am morally against it (maybe for another blog), I do not see any
way I can be politically against it. Because of separation of church and
state, “Because God said so” just doesn’t fly in politics. So why is this
issue being put before wars, economy, environment, and education? It just
seems as if we are losing way too much sleep over this moral issue, while
people are dying, poverty and greed are increasing, the world is dying,
and schools are turning into dumps. I thought “thou shalt not kill”, “love
thy neighbor”, “replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth”, and “train up a child in the way he
should go” were all pretty important Christian morals too. So why don’t we
as Christians use the government to work on these important issues as it
is meant to be, and leave the purely moral issues to to discussed in our
churches and home, and to be decided by the individual.
Maybe these ministers in Ohio should use their freedom of religion to go
out and try and convert other’s to their beliefs instead of getting into
the government and forcing them. This blog has been really poorly thought
out, because I’ve just kind of thrown out some thoughts I’ve had. Maybe
someday I will actually write something a bit coherent on the subject.
Comments, especially critical, are most welcome. Thanks.