Religion & Government Can They Meld
By Al Cronkrite The Covenant News ~ September 17, 2005
The September/October 2005 Issue of "Faith for All of Life", a Chalcedon Foundation publication, contains an article by Martin Selbrede entitled "Examining the Agenda of Secularism". The article is a result of information gleaned at an April 2005 meeting held at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York. Selbrede provides a short synopsis of the presentations of ten participants in this meeting held under the ominous title "Examining the Real Agenda of the Religious Far Right".
Ongoing contentions between believers and non-believers over the issue of religion and government continues with both sides straying far from truth in efforts to support their positions.
Webster's first definition of "religion" reads, "a) belief in a divine or superhuman power or powers to be obeyed and worshiped as the creator(s) and ruler(s) of the universe b) expression of such a belief in conduct and ritual. The first definition of "divine" reads "of or like God or a god". The first definition of "God" reads "any of various beings conceived of as supernatural, immortal, and having special powers over the lives and affairs of people and the course of nature; deity, esp. a male deity: typically considered objects of worship."
Statistics indicate that America is about 76% Christian, 13% secular, 1.3% Judaism, and .5% each Islam, Buddhist, and Agnostic. Fifty-two percent of Americans identify themselves as Protestant and 24% as Catholic. Within the Protestant group 16% are Baptists, 7% Methodist, 5% Lutheran, 3% Presbyterian, and 2% Pentecostal. Though Protestants outnumber Catholics 2 to 1, Catholics are the largest single denomination by a ratio of 5 to 3 over the second place Baptists.
According to the World Christian Encyclopedia the are 33,830 different Christian denominations in the world. America has over 1500.
The Catholic Church is a powerful Christian presence both here in America and throughout the world. Worldwide, Catholics outnumber Protestants by a ratio of 3 to 1. With a monolithic structure it musters considerable leverage and has been the salient Pro-Life voice. Unfortunately, its theological underpinnings do not extend to the remainder of the social order and have failed to keep it from lending support to the temporal programs of the pagan United Nations.
With an overwhelmingly Christian citizenry America is allowing itself to be governed by a secular minority that has already succeeded in changing its legal structure.
Overwhelmingly, America's churches conduct big-tent ministries. Growth and maintaining membership trumps a forceful proclamation of the Gospel and the results are pusillanimous, people centered churches that concentrate on the tiny bit of God's creation that comes through their doors to the detriment of all else.
A small group of preachers provides a noticeable challenge to the secular establishment. They are outgunned and outmaneuvered but in spite of their weak approach, they have created fear in some antinomian ranks.
Chuck Baldwin from Pensacola, Florida, ran as a Vice-Presidential candidate with Michael Peroutka on the Constitution Party ticket. He is a plainspoken perceptive preacher, radio host, and internet writer with a sizeable following. D. James Kennedy of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, has been a stalwart supporter of Christianity and has provided a steady stream of confrontation to the agents of deterioration for the past several decades. Jerry Falwell of Lynchburg, Virginia formed the Moral Majority and spoke out effectively for several years. Pat Robertson, famous as host of the 700 Club, following an unsuccessful run at the Presidency in 1988, formed the Christian Coalition. Under the leadership of Ralph Reed, for several years, it was the most influential Christian organization in the country. He also founded the American Center for Law and Justice which has had mixed reviews under Jay Sekulow. There are and have been several others.
One of the objectives has been to get more Christians involved in government. Another has been contending for the Christian character of the Nation. Much of the confrontation has taken the form of decrying the pagan laws and practices that have overtaken us. It has been an unsuccessful defensive battle that contains enough rhetoric to inflame a few resentful counterfeits who rail against it but has brought nothing righteous to the culture.
I would contend that the ominous sounding title that brought the ten speakers to the podium at CUNY is a direct result of the Dominionist teachings of Dr. Rousas Rushdoony. He taught us that law forms the religious base of society.
God's Laws are the only weapon that will bring the social order back under His control. Fulminating against secular forces without proposing an alternative is useless. Antinomian Christians in government are attempting to slay the dragon without a weapon. Christianity without Law becomes a vapid pietism.
Secular forces understand the danger Christian Reconstructionists pose because they know the power of law. Their unreasonable fright over any attempt to bring favor to the Laws God gave to Moses is apparent when they seek Dominionist legal qualities in Evangelical ministries. Dispensational theology prevalent in most of these ministries leaves God's Laws in the closet of a previous dispensation and those who attempt to correct the path of the nation have nothing with which to counter the onerous pagan legal system.
There can be no doubt that our Pilgrim forefathers were Christians, that they left Holland to find a Godly social order, that they had a fifty year peace with the Indians, and that in the hundred plus years that ensued before the writing of the Constitution the solid legal basis of their Christianity was substantially eroded by Europe's popular enlightenment. Those who created the Constitution did not include the Christian Gospel leaving the door open to the room of secularism that has now been entered and furnished.
The perennial argument over whether or not post-Constitutional America was meant to be Christian is really of little use. Even if the Christian question could be settled in the affirmative, it would make no major change. We would still be living in a nation that is quickly sinking into immoral chaos with a government that has already codified police state statutes.
Our citizens must understand that a peaceful society cannot exist without an obedient citizenry. Given that obedience, there are only two choices. We live under the Laws God gave to Moses or we live under the evil, anarchic, and capricious opinions of men.
In First Samuel 8, the ancient Jews decided they wanted a king because Samuel was getting old and their neighbors were governed by kings. God spoke to Samuel saying they are not rejecting thee but are rejecting Me; they no long want Me to reign over them. It is interesting to note that when the people rejected God as their ruler and requested a king, they transferred their individual responsibility to obey over to the king and henceforth Israel's kings determined the sanctity of the nation. Americans behave in a similar fashion continually transferring more of their individual responsibility to government.
Through Samuel God granted their request for a king and ultimately choose Saul to be their ruler but not before he warned them that they would suffer under the rule of kings.
The American Constitution is a finely crafted document and was viable when buttressed with God's Laws. However, our enlightened elite have deemed it anachronistic and replaced it with their own opinions causing great evil to come upon us.
God waits for His creation to appropriate and obey His Laws. The Laws God gave to Moses will never become untimely for our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Though entropy rages in the conduct of men, God remains steadily righteous and His immutable legal structure waits for our acceptance.
The concept promoted by our elite rulers that the public sector can be religiously neutral is a devious deception. Religious neutrality is humanism and that religion is responsible for today's terrible evils.
Government must follow The Laws of God. There can be no neutrality; it is either follow God's Laws or follow evil. Christians who cast a vote for secular government cast a vote for evil and the quagmire we now live in is a result.
If we are ever again to live in peace and freedom, government and Christianity must meld.