October 2008 Archives

As I was looking for a hotel to stop at that's halfway between my house and my sister's house in Georgia, I got a little crazy with Google Maps' scroll-wheel zooming and inadvertently stumbled upon what may be the greatest discovery in modern philosophy: parallel worlds!

In physical appearance, the worlds are similar. However, it does seem that only the East Coast of the United States and Canada have survived the brutal conditions on the leftmost world; whereas eastern Asia has completely been blown off the globe in the rightmost world.

Perhaps these two alternate realities provide an insight into the possibilities of a renewed era of nuclear proliferation. Either way, I'm glad I live in the nice, calm, middle-world.

Followers of Christ should submit to earthly authority regardless of their approval or disapproval of the particular regime in power at the moment. Romans 13 was, after all, written during the reign of Nero, one of the most brutal anti-Christian rulers perhaps in all of history. Still, Paul encouraged Christians to pay their taxes, obey the law, etc. (Notice that Paul mentioned nothing about submitting to the law forbidding spreading Christianity itself.)

Believers should neither withdraw from society,  nor mount some political "Jesus revolution" and establish a strict theocracy. We are given the unique privilege of choosing our leaders in the United States. I believe we should use that privilege to the glory of God.

I think the "evangelical establishment" (as I call it) has sort of fallen into this erroneous notion that America was once a Christian nation and that's been stolen from us by atheists and agnostics and secular humanists and all the "other" religious groups. We feel that it's our God-ordained duty to take back what we had and "put down" the rebellion of anyone who dares to challenge the sovereignty of this America-Kingdom of God hybrid idea that we've created.

Listening to agnostics, atheists, and their ilk, often their biggest beef with "Christianity" is all the evil it has purported over the centuries in the name of "doing God's work." I'm not going to address the egregious and unavoidable errors in this argument here, but the point is this: these people are pissed off for a reason.

Christianity has long been the de facto "official" religion of Western civilization. This idea took root during the Holy Roman Empire, and continued as Rome's influence spread over the globe (ultimately via the British Empire in the modern age). The Inquisition, the Crusades, witch burnings, and other events in the development of Western Civilization and Christianity, in addition to the contemporary issues surrounding civil rights are points against Christianity in the mind of an atheist (or agnostic).

I think the problem through the ages is simply this: Christians, as a whole, have failed to abide by the Law of Love.

For example, the Federal Marriage Amendment is touted by many evangelicals as a critical issue in preserving America as the godly nation it was designed to be. I think that's a mistake. I think there are other solutions to that semantic puzzle that don't alienate homosexuals and those who support them. I think if it was up to me, I'd broaden whatever Federal incentives are currently provided to man-woman marriages to include every taxpayer, married or unmarried. I don't need the Federal government to legitimize my marriage or anyone else's. that way the wind is taken from the sails of the groups saying "what about us?" (Feel free to insert the slippery slope argument of your choice here.)

To bring this ramble full circle, I think we, as followers of Christ, should let God's Love be our guide in relating to the world. This should include choosing our leaders. We are so eager to throw our support to the person who promises us some little glimmer of hope that we'll be able to re-establish the "city on a hill" and put all these non-believers in their proper place. I don't think that's the proper way to "go into all the world and preach the gospel."

Believers need to stop playing political catch up, trying to hang on to the illusion that America was ordained by God so that we, God's children, can have our way all the time. I do believe that America is God-ordained, as are all earthly dominions. I think the onus is on us to embrace the freedoms we have to express the love and grace of God.


As an epilogue, I'd like to mention my intense distaste for the abject fear that many believers seem to have for the notion of postmodernism. Postmodernism is the paradigm that follows modernism. Postmodernism's main "theme", if you will, is re-evaluating the constructs embraced during the modern age. Postmodernism is not the scourge of Christianity. Christianity was born in a social-religious climate much like our postmodernism. It grew at that time like it has never grown since, and I wonder sometimes whether Christians can get their heads out of the sand and forge ahead instead of pining for the aged modern paradigm.

... but that's another post, I think.

Every life is sacred.

That's what most "orthodox" evangelicals will tell you. That's why the evangelical establishment is willing to back any political candidate who promises that he or she is "pro-life." It seems to me, however, that by choosing leaders by this relatively narrow test of character, we often make the wrong choice. We've duped ourselves into believing that it's OK to choose the "lesser evil" as long as at least our most important political appetites are sated.

I generally agreed with this notion, until I really started thinking about the ramifications. We're given relatively few choices when it comes to choosing our leaders in this country, and recently (at least for the past 30 years or so) the choices have (often) included two proponents of big-government: a welfare statist, or a military statist.

This election is no different. On the one hand, we have a candidate who wants to nationalize health care, among other "entitlements;" on the other hand, we have a candidate who's all for expanding the United States' military presence around the world. Given their voting records and comments over the past month or so, both candidates are also in favor of expanding the Federal government's role in the economy.

I was interested to learn that the Constitution Party's candidate for president is a graduate of my alma mater, yet despite his political, economic, and social views being in line with many of mine, and, I would assume, many of my evangelical brothers and sisters, I haven't heard a word about this candidate through traditional evangelical "channels."

I pondered this, and realized that the reason for the hush regarding someone who will stand up for what is right (not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in terms of common sense), was that the present-day evangelical establishment is all but married to neo-conservative Republicanism. Exactly why this is, I don't know. But, as I thought about it, I realized that whatever the reasons, I think we've taken a wrong turn in choosing our political allies.

If every life is sacred, that's all well and good when we're talking about unborn babies, the elderly, and those who are unable to care for themselves. But here's the disconnect that I see: what about the lives that end at the hands of the U.S. military overseas as they "police the world?" What about the life that ends as a result of the Federal justice system determining that that life is best put to an end because it's a "menace to society?"

Please don't get me wrong, the U.S. should use its military to defend its borders and to protect itself from overseas threats, but sending troops--standing armies--to all points of the globe to "protect America's interests," or because some entangling supra-national organization decides we should, is not the same thing. Also, although I believe that the criminal justice system is broken (and the Federal system terminally so), I still think there is a place for such a system in our society.

My urgent plea to my evangelical brothers and sisters is to carefully research and pray about who you choose to lead us.

The lesser evil is still evil. Vote for the "right" person. Don't let religious leaders or society as a whole pigeon-hole you and make you think that you won't have a voice if you do the right thing.