If President Obama\u2019s recent political support of same-sex marriage has done nothing else, it\u2019s ignited discussion about the relationship between church and government. It annoys me to no end that so many in the Christian community want to equate American freedom with biblical doctrine. It\u2019s so common to hear \u201cAmerica is a Christian Nation,\u201d and \u201cif we don\u2019t go back to following God, we\u2019re going to receive his judgment,\u201d and other such, frankly, frustrating epithets that make for great sound bites, but have little to no real substance. Do we really think about what we\u2019re saying before we say it? It\u2019s no wonder a generation of free-thinkers and activist reject the \u201ctalking loud, saying nothing\u201d nature of the Christian American church. So let this be a call to all of us Holy-Ghost-having, cross-bearing, Lord\u2019s-Prayer quoting, little-Jesus\u2019es. Politics has asked for a divorce. And we should acquiesce its request. Quickly!<\/p>\n
Entitlement and The Church<\/b><\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t matter the subject: prayer in schools, legalizing abortion, same-sex marriage, capital punishment\u2026 the Christian church, in large part, has come to expect that its rules for life should also be America\u2019s rules for life. Maybe not down to every detail (after all, we haven\u2019t made fornication illegal yet, and we certainly don\u2019t expect American government to take care of the poor the way Jesus asks his followers to). But for the most part, we expect the Bible to carry some weight in American legislation. For some unsubstantiated reason, we feel we deserve it. We don\u2019t. Well, here\u2019s the unfortunate newsflash: America did not accept Jesus as its personal Lord and Savior.<\/p>\n
America\u2019s view on Jesus matches its view for Allah, Buddha, even Satan. As long as your religion is peaceful, who \u201cGod\u201d is referring to on our money is up to you. Jesus\u2019 name is nowhere to be found in our Constitution. It is not America\u2019s job to go out to the ends of the world preaching and baptizing in the name of Jesus. It is not the job of the American Congress to teach, or even exemplify, a life of \u201cloving our neighbor as we do ourselves.\u201d We are not entitled to have our religion trump the others just because a few of the values in the Constitution happen to be in the Bible. It\u2019s time we got over it.<\/p>\n
America\u2019s job is to nurture freewill and freedom, to protect the innocent from the powerful, and to create an environment of opportunity for all its members in a fair, equal way. If freedom is America\u2019s currency, then the government is merely an employer dolling out freedom checks. As recipients, the church has to cash their own checks and pay their own bills. America\u2019s not going to pay our bills for us. <\/p>\n