clergy response teams to calm down and control their flocks in the event of a national emergency like hurricane Katrina when US troops were patrolling the streets and confiscating fire arms from the public. This is what Hitler did with the clergy of his day. Hitler had the clergy preach, out of context of course, Romans 13 so that the people would obey whatever they were told to do by the authorities. So there is government influence today in the church. The church of England is one example of why religion needs to be protected from government influence. Many of the ancient empires controlled the religion of their day according to however the emperor saw fit. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon forced all his people to worship the image of gold he set up or be killed. Caesars of the Roman Empire claimed themselves to be god and forced worship of himself on his people. When ever the ruler changed, the religion changed with it. So government control of churches has throughout history resulted in disaster.
On the other
hand, is the more controversial question. Does government need to be protected
from religion? I say YES to this also. This is obvious to left wing, liberal
Christians who don’t want fundamentalist views shoved down their throats. But
right wing Christians claim that removing God out of government is the main
cause of our problems today. They say that the principles of Christianity need
to be the driving force behind government in order to have God’s blessing on
our nation. But if you lobby the government to forcefully implement your own
religious beliefs on others at the expense of others freedom of religion, that
sets the precedent for others to possibly do this to you. And if mob rule
democracy is the law of the land where 51% can oppress the other 49%, who is to
say that the true values of God will be the majority? The founders original
constitutional republic(not democracy) grants equal freedom of religion to all
people. We have to protect the rights of even our enemies in order to protect
our own rights. God doesn't need the help of the state to advance his plans.
Religion should promote itself through the lives of its people and the examples
they set, not through government force. Look at the disastrous results of
having the Islamic religion control government policy in the Middle East today.
Think back to the Dark Ages when the Catholic Church controlled government
policy during that time period. The inquisition and the crusades caused more
deaths than anything else in human history and it was all due to religious
influence on government. It’s interesting that this history of the Catholic
Church is largely ignored today. Some, including myself, will claim this same
power is the hidden power controlling governments today. Yes this influence
claimed to be working in the name of God, but this was not the case. That is
the problem, if religion is allowed to control government policy, who is to say
that man will get it right and implement the correct will of God. So keep
religion and government separate from each other, enjoy your freedom of
religion while allowing others to enjoy theirs, and uphold the constitution. If
a pastor wants to talk politics from the pulpit, he should be allowed to
whether we agree with it or not. The government should not limit the speech of
pastors. And government should follow the constitution at all costs, no matter
what religious lobbying groups may lobby for. It sounds so simple, but human
nature has never been able to allow this to happen for any significant length
of time throughout history.
So now as our
economy continues to spiral downward, people always look to religion when times
get tough. Now imagine a grassroots, Christian movement that wants to “take our
country back” and restore the country to a Christian nation. The truth is we
were never meant to be a Christian nation, but instead a nation with equal
religious freedom for all people. Now imagine this movement begins to control
government policy much like the Catholic Church did in the Dark Ages. The
government then forcefully enforces laws that appease the masses, but trample
on the religious freedoms of minority groups. Well this is all fine so long as
you are in the group of the majority. But what if this brand of Christianity is
different than your idea of Christianity? Or what if it's not even calling
itself Christianity and it's another religion altogether. What if one of these
laws requires you to disobey what you believe God commands of you? Will you do
as you are told as, they will tell you, Romans 13 suggests you should do? Or
will you obey God rather than man? King Nebuchadnezzar commanded Daniel to
worship his image of gold, but Daniel refused even with the penalty of death.
Daniel had no assurance that God would save him. He was willing to die rather
than disobey God. The government’s law conflicted with God’s commands, and
Daniel chose to obey God over man. Hopefully we never have to make that
decision. But the best way to avoid that is to keep church and state separate
from each other so that one doesn't corrupt the other. Promote religious
freedom not just for your beliefs but for all people. God doesn't need the
state's help.
No comments:
Post a Comment