My current state of affairs lends itself to a lot of… introspective time. I have time to think a lot, read a lot, write a lot (hence this blog), and also play a lot of Tropico, the only computer game I brought to Denver. Call me a dweeb, but being the dictator of a small latin american island seems like it may be fun… in fact I may be changing the “objective” line on my resume before long.
My main passions of late as far as reading goes, have been unfortunately the two things you’re not allowed to talk about at the dinner table: religion and politics. There has been a seemingly more and more talk of late about church and state, especially with recently defeated senatorial candidate being blasted for her apparent ignorance of it appearing in the constitution… which by the way, she got an unfair shake on, and the media forgot to report that her opponent couldn’t even name the freedoms protected in the first amendment a few seconds later. A good point made by a friend is that the founders clearly intended for a division of church and state in our country, they made no mention, and in fact seemingly outright opposed, the separation of GOD and state.
http://jasonpersingermysideofthestory.blogspot.com/2010/04/in-defense-of-god-and-state.html
Today, many would have us believe that to even mention God in the context of a political decision or our government is tantamount to Sharia Law in Iran, and is religious fanaticism. Many claim that mentioning God is an affront to atheists, and is in essence an unfair imposition of our belief on theirs. As the founder clearly intended that God be the guiding force in the creation of our country, I propose that those that hold this belief should call a constitutional convention to have the thing rewritten, making it clear that all that “endowed by their creator” and “station which Nature’s God entitled them” nonsense in the Declaration was simply Jeffersonian poetic wordplay, and had/has no real meaning. If there is not popular support for this convention, I then propose that those that hold this belief accept the reality that our founders did not intend for a separation of God and state in our country.
Where frustrations come, understandably, is where one group or party claims that they have God’s vote. I have not read the entire Bible, but I’m relatively certain that God has never voted in an election, he does not hold a particular party, and hasn’t even made any campaign contributions lately. Religion in our country becomes extremely divisive when one party claims that God votes with them.
A good article by Jim Wallace i read recently begins with the following:
“Abraham Lincoln had it right. The task of Christians should not be to invoke religion and the name of God by claiming God’s blessing and endorsement for all their national policies and practices—saying, in effect, that God is on their side. Rather, Lincoln said, believers should pray and worry earnestly whether they are on God’s side.”
(the link for the article – http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/current-events/op-ed-blog/1474-is-there-a-politics-of-god )
God doesn’t endorse politicians or policies, and no, Sarah Palin does not carry God’s proxy vote, as much as she may wish that be the case. We’re also forgetting the small fact that if God were here, He would not vote, and we would not vote, because He would be the dictator or His altogether perfect plan for us and the world (see the book of Revelation).
So the main takeaways here: God is not a Republican or a Democrat, and probably not even a member of the Green Party. Mixing politics and religion too much can damage your witness, and can drive people away from the faith AND your political views, it’s kind of like a silver bullet for creating divisiveness. Politics is very personal. Religion is very personal. Jesus is even more personal – but we shouldn’t be marginalizing him by claiming He endorses our party. That being said, God should not take a back seat when it comes to our personal political decisions, and we should never be ashamed of the founding fathers’ intent and invoking of His name in the creation of our country, which has a logical and clear application to the governance of our country today.
