Ever since the founding of our great nation, we have been a country that allows for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Every single one of those things can relate to the various religions that we all choose to practice. Many claim we are not a "Christian nation" anymore. I can understand that. Many claim that our Founding Fathers were not Christians, but were, instead, Deists, or even Atheists. Of course, this is one of the great lies told today and is simply not true. Check out THIS book for more information on this subject. Many others say that the Ten Commandments should be stricken from our courtrooms and schoolhouses, because we have become a country of social ambivalence and moral relativism. That might be true. However, there is one thing that does bother me. And this is a heated subject, so bear with me.
One of the main problems with American culture is that we, forgive the cliche, "talk the talk, but do not walk the walk." Our actions do not define our beliefs. Or vice versa. I'm referring, of course, to America's general stance on politics and religion. And this is what I believe:
You can say what you want, but one day, your political beliefs MUST line up with your theology. They must. You cannot say you are a Christian and believe in the enscriptured Word of God and then support the murder of infants in the womb. You are NOT a Christian. You are a Christianist. If you disagree with this, where does your Christianity begin?
I'll tell you. Apart from belief in Jesus Christ, as a Christian, you must believe that the Bible is inherent and infallible. You must believe it is God-inspired. You must believe it literally.
Take, for example, a man who advocates abortion because he believes in a mother's freedom to get rid of her baby if she so chooses. He also claims to be a Bible-believing Christian. "What," I ask him, "gives you the authority to say that this woman may kill her child?" He answers that it is not a child yet and even so, the mother's life is of primary importance. You have to then look at this situation carefully. This man claims to believe in the Word of God, yet ignores the verse where God states that He knew us while we were in the womb. In addition, he ignores the fact that all life is a gift from God. How is this logical at all?
You see, this is the problem with the "Americanizing" or "socializing" of Christianity. It has become a "cool" religion, the one most people name when others ask if they follow any sort of theology. And this is dangerous territory. Because anyone can claim this religion. Anyone can say that they believe in "the Bible," yet believe in moral relativism. We are a culture that is okay with saying we are Christians, but not a Christian nation, that say we love God, yet hate others. We say we all agree that everyone has a right to their own opinions, yet when someone says something we don't agree with, we act as if their view is of less worth than ours.
Though I might not agree with what Voltaire said, I will defend to the death his right to say it.
Politicians, humanitarians, celebrities, people like you and me, we can say we believe in something. But if we don't show that belief, then what do we show?
Our politics has to line up with our theology. If one does not correlate to the other, then one of them is out of sync.
You think I'm referring to Democrats, but I believe this is the case on both sides of the isle. And I will say this clearly: You cannot support abortion and call yourself a Christian. You cannot support socialist views and call yourself a Christian. You cannot pass off the poor and homeless as hopeless and call yourself a Christian. You cannot support the taking away of our God-given rights and call yourself a Christian.
Mike Huckabee came to Liberty University to speak today. He mentioned the federal government's war on Catholicism and said something profound. Here's the gist:
"I am not Catholic. But we ALL better be Catholic along with them when their rights as a religion are being trounced upon by the government."
Woah. I had never thought of it like that.
I'm a Christian. I'm Southern Baptist. And you know what else? I'm Catholic. And Methodist. And Lutheran. I'm Muslim. I'm a Hindu. Heck, I'm a Zoroastrian. Anytime the federal government tries to limit the freedoms defined in our first amendment, I will stand with whoever is being oppressed and defend them.
And most importantly, I will stand by all of Christendom when it is attacked and invaded by those who claim to follow it but do not support it politically.
I'm a Christian. And I'm a Conservative. And my politics matches up to my theology.
Go figure.
-Christian