Christianity and Politics
Today, I was reading an interesting opinion piece, by Uwe Siemon-Netto, in the Christian Science Monitor. It reminded me, again, how religion is being used - not merely in this political campaign season, but in all forms of political decision-making for years - to browbeat voters and politicians.For far too many years, I have watched religion and theologies force their way into the government and politics of this country. A country founded on the belief that religion and politics are mutually exclusive institutions. Government should not dictate how people worship their God; the church should not tell the government how to make law.
Well, that has been changing - dramatically - and it needs to stop. No, Mr. Huckabee, it is not necessary to bring the Constitution more in line with any religious tome - be it the Bible, Torah or Koran, any more than it is necessary to bring them more in line with the Constitution. And, in my humble opinion, the pulpit is no place for recriminations against the body politic.
To quote Siemon-Netto on the mingling of religion and politics: "A largely Protestant nation that can trace its theological taproot to Martin Luther ought to know better. As the original Reformer, Luther understood how critical it was to separate church and state and, in a more important sense, the spiritual kingdom of Christ and the secular realm where God reigns in a hidden way through humans using reason as a guide."
And again: "Half a millennium after Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, it makes sense to ponder his down-to-earth comment that in politics, as in all other aspects of secular life, Christians must act reasonably according to natural law. The Gospel has freed them to do just that; it must not be perverted into a weapon to be slapped around other people's heads."
Christ, whose life is supposed to be the guiding principle for, and perfect example of, Christian behavior, said it best: "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21).
And - most importantly -: "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).
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Jules