January 14, 2007
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church and state... pacifism... etc
Is it necessary for a Christian politician to keep his beliefs "private" and never let them influence his policymaking? Or ought he to try to set up a theocracy? Or something in between? Or is "Christian politician" actually an oxymoron?
I think it should be "something in between", though that is of course a non-trivial fine line to walk in practice. But it is an absolutely essential area to understand. The secular folk insist that Christians are no different from Muslims and want to impose a theocracy on the rest of the world. We Christians have to be ready at an instant's notice to show to inquirers what the Bible really says about how Christians should get involved in politics. In certain parts of the world it is much more difficult already (and some day we may face the exact same situations) - for example Nigeria's Muslim north and Christian south. Here the police/government and the religious beliefs are harder to separate.
Here's a very cool seven-part article that I came across today that carefully and practically expounds the place of the church and the state from the Biblical/Christian viewpoint - http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/pacifism1.htm.
Also, here's a neat article about Europe and current trends, called Why Europe Abandoned Israel. As you know I enjoy reading/pondering "big-picture" analyses like these, though of course only if they are based on true historical details.
If you only have time to read one link, read the one by Arlandson about the church and the state!
Comments (7)
I'm not sure. On the one hand, I feel like politicians should be able to say "I'm Christian," or "I'm an Atheist," or "I'm a Satanist" without fear of any kind of persecution; they should get to be what they want to be and shouldn't HAVE to hide it. On the other hand, I feel that it's sort of like the whole Bill Clinton sex scandal: it's really just none of the public's business. I think that your religion should not necessarily have an impact on your politics because it's a politician's job to represent the public, not act solely on his or her own judgment.
The last link you had depresses me. It seems to be more based on opinion than fact, and I don't like the opinion much. Sorry.
~Sol
The Bible is pretty clear when it comes to politics:
Ecclesiastes10:2 NIV
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of the fool to the left."
That's funny, ISM!
Sol, I'd be interested to read an analysis of Europe's anti-semitism problem from a left-wing / Palestinian perspective too... let me know if you come across a good article from that perspective.
Hi Tim. Thanks for your note. I haven't been receiving any of your updates for the last Month or so. Am I still on your list? Pls. Advise.
Thanks...Mrs. Swift
A person can be part of the problem or part of the solution, as the saying goes.
Man. So my last statement was helpful to nobody. I still don't like the link, but I don't have a whole lot of evidence to say anything to the contrary so it's probably best that I don't. As far as the Israel-Palestine thing goes, I sympathize with the Palestinians a little bit because, well, a Jewish state kind of fell on them. I don't think either side is working towards unity, though; they both just want to crush one another. It's not really a black-and-white matter. A lot of people over there think that this can't be solved without the abolishment of Israel altogether, but it's holy ground for both Jews and Muslims. They're acting like little kids about this whole thing, and backing either side completely without looking at the whole issue is just solidifying the playground politics.
Hmm. I wonder what left and right signified when the bible was written. I know that left was considered an evil thing and that it was evil to be left-handed; I heard that Jesus' "turn the other cheek" policy worked when you hit someone, you had to hit them with the back of your right hand; hitting them with your palm indicated that they were your equal, and doing anything with your left hand wasn't socially appropriate. So if you held your face the right way, they couldn't hit you.
Heh. I always wondered what was wrong with being a fool. Maybe I'm making a distinction between "Wise man and fool" and "Intelligent person and idiot," though. Idiots can be great and intelligent people can be horrible. Frankly, the wise men and fools always seem to have more fun than the intelligent people and idiots.
~Sol
Sol,
I know what you mean about the sadness of the whole mideast situation...
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