UI – Part 410 – Church and Government (3 of 3)

(Continued….)

What Does the Church Mean to the Government?

Political Promises

Those that vote for the progressive, socialist, policies of the liberal left are ready to jump off the cliff into an abyss of dismay, believing the liberals promises that they have the resources, or will find they way, to allow them to live as they prefer, drunk and stupefied by the drug of a marxist-like culture.  Sit on the sofa, avoid work, enjoy the pleasures you prefer, strum your instrument, and let government provide. It is the good life. Eat lobster, smoke pot, drink wine.  If it is so good, then, why do they keep asking for more?

Today even free education is being pandered.  The victim becomes the student fearing indebtedness that might arise to obtain the knowledge and degree they need to succeed.  But then success becomes a dirty word as it is the successful who are the capitalists, the ones who take advantage of others by profiting from their hard work, extra effort and the rewards they deserve.  So learn to be a liberal professor, a global warming analyst, assist the government to better serve the people, pursue research, work for a political campaign, and do anything except become a productive member of society.  They are led to believe the liberal mantra that to produce is to make goods to be sold, and profit to be made, which enhances the capitalist platform and creates inequality.  They must know that to be free is not to be equal.  We are free to succeed, to achieve, or to do nothing.  But there are consequences that not even the most liberal socialist system can avoid.  Let someone else pay for the education, then the student can feel less compelled to be productive and earn enough to give back to the system that gave them an opportunity. An imbalance is created.  But that may not be the objective of the system that just wants a loyal voter.  If it works, though, then so be it, the tower of the limo-liberal elitist can be enlarged and more cronies can move-in or visit.

Islamic Theocracy

The Islamic theocratic system has no relevance in a modern society.  It contains standards for morality in its texts, to be sure.  But its laws are composed more of manmade elements designed and attributed to Allah, a god useful to Muhammad and his adherents, as he is the example. By so doing it captured the hearts and minds of mankind aware of a supreme being as creator, omnipotent and omniscient, to which obedience to achieve an afterlife with God is necessary.  But the laws, the sharia, are not humane or intended for the common good, only for those who accede to the equality of the standards as prescribed by the texts and modified to serve mostly the male sex.  They are not free in any way.  Choice is not in the program, only Islam.  It may have foundational elements from the Bible, altering the truth for the purposes and preferences of the leadership. Sound familiar.  Its restrictions and impositions seek its adherents to pray as a required minimum five times each day.  They recite the same words over and over. They depend on the infidel, as inferiors, whose role is to produce so as to provide for the Muslim; their days can then be totally devoted to Allah.  Allah’s Will will provide that which is needed to live each and every day, to eat, drink and to survive.

The liberal-leftists in America think a progressive socialist government is Allah’s Will for them, even though they are not Muslims, but sans the morality demands.  They like the thought of no work but all the benefits. The leadership of this movement covet the power and financial benefits obtained when elected and made popular by feeding the addictions of its base. Prayer is not their desire either. They become elitists existing above their own victim base.

The coupling of the temporal and the spiritual, as a theocracy, removes Islam from any opportunity to exist in a free pluralistic society.  Separation of mosque and state is incompatible with the texts, guide and directive of this ideology masked as a religion. Also when apostasy calls for death to the apostate, taught in the many schools considered the temple for correct understanding and knowing Islam, becoming an acceptable moral template raises concerns.

Secular governance calls for tolerance and acceptance of a vast array of points of view, restricted only by a requirement to remain peaceful and kind to your neighbor.  That is not how Islam sees the world.  I have posited on by blog (Understand-Islam) that Islam is unConstitutional in America. (Read post)

Some headlines and commentary that expands on this impediment to Islam as part of a pluralistic society.

1.)  Germany: Muslims screaming “Allahu Akbar” attack, try to kill convert from Islam to Christianity –  “They wish you would disbelieve as they disbelieved so you would be alike. So do not take from among them allies until they emigrate for the cause of Allah. But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them and take not from among them any ally or helper.” (Qur’an 4:89)

A hadith depicts Muhammad saying: “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him” (Bukhari 9.84.57). The death penalty for apostasy is part of Islamic law according to all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence.

This is still the position of all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence, both Sunni and Shi’ite. Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the most renowned and prominent Muslim cleric in the world, has stated: “The Muslim jurists are unanimous that apostates must be punished, yet they differ as to determining the kind of punishment to be inflicted upon them. The majority of them, including the four main schools of jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali) as well as the other four schools of jurisprudence (the four Shiite schools of Az-Zaidiyyah, Al-Ithna-‘ashriyyah, Al-Ja’fariyyah, and Az-Zaheriyyah) agree that apostates must be executed.”

Qaradawi also once famously said: “If they had gotten rid of the apostasy punishment, Islam wouldn’t exist today.” (Read More)

2.) France Burkini backlash panic: convene Muslims to discuss French Islam – “A respect for secular values should be an expectation and requirement of all Muslims immigrating to the West (along with all other adherents of any faith tradition)….” (Read More)

3.) Clash of civilizations: Iranian in Canada attacks wife’s boss for saying hello  – “This clash of civilizations between Westerners and Muslims is far too often trivialized or downplayed. The West needs to stand firm in supporting its constitutions of equality for all and human rights for all….” (Read More)

Social Relevance

Religion must remain socially relevant. Islam is not. America was founded on Biblical principles and is considered a Christian nation as a result.  But the church has never been supported by the government nor is there a State or National religion.  It is what was in the hearts and minds of the founders to be a free nation, but guided by a strict guide of right and wrong and purposed by God.  The document they prepared, the majority of the authors being lawyers, the Constitution, cannot be changed by the Supreme Court. They are instituted as a judicial body to insure limits on government decisions remain within the framework of the Constitution.

In Baker’s book (The End of Secularism) he notes, “Religion is a crucial bulwark in the protection of human rights, such as the right to raise one’s children without excessive interference or over-regulation” (pg. 136 of 237).  Religion is not to be pushed aside and assigned to private spaces by the secularists. It is needed for a wholesome society. The liberal approach towards pluralism is not neutral; it favors the ungodly.  Secularism privileges some over ‘others.’  That is not neutral.  When the church is sidelined the ‘others’ take advantage and may well become hedonists.

As an aside, beware of the term ‘modernity.’  It is a word that suggests progress.  That is a good use.  At the same time, however, it connotes a secular structure that encourages the possibility of not believing.  A sans-God equation is an empty formula. Any semblance of a personal God can be extinguished so that God’s authority is voided. The Christian becomes an evil pursuer of truth that is not the truth the ‘me’ society prefers, a truth that makes them squirm. But when the darkness and emptiness has no home in which to seek solace within the God barren turf what remains? Oddly enough there is a choice.  The choice is either a further escape to an ether induced coma, the use of opiates and a want for a greater array of legalized drugs, smoked, eaten of sniffed, OR turning to the unconscionable, incomprehensible, unknown supernatural force that seems to live inside of us all. To the bended knee, a finger pointed towards the heavens, even at the risk of being reprimanded by the referee of the secular ballgame, one reaches out for the grace of God.

The liberals may just find it important to bring the church back into their structure.  They need to stop pushing religion and the conservatives away. The church is the mechanism that keeps the clock running on time; it does not allow the body politic get too far ahead or behind itself.  The moral order of things is the electrical current that powers society.  Electricity is like god, it is all around us, never seen, but ever present. It makes things work.  Universal laws are scientific and moral. The scientific cannot be questioned, but for the moral there is a choice.  The church is the beacon that beams that it is the good choice that is the right choice.

Two comments from the book, “Religion (specifically Christianity) can serve a useful purpose without ruling other voices out of court or forcing conformity.  Christianity, for example, raises questions about the ability of spheres to function without moral constraints, forces debate about core convictions, and mobilizes people against pretensions of value-free analysis.” And, “The members of the church are to render obedience to the state short of impiety or perhaps injustice, but they are never to surrender the priorities of the church to state approval.”

Pastoral care for the people should always come from the church.  The government cannot do it with the same level of care and affection.  It is out of love we care for our brethren, not out of a need for their vote and support. The people of our Nation cannot allow the government to make the church irrelevant.  The established order, or the establishment, is a critical body for those that wish to reduce the influence of religion.  The church cannot let the state control what they do; it is their freedom that enables them to resist changes from the system that erode the foundations of a moral order.

Beware if the establishment ever seeks to provide some funding for church activities; the quid pro quo will be to alter the free stance the church can now take towards the system when they have legitimate objections. If the government wishes to use the church as a conduit to aide in restoration of communities, the church must never say, “OK,” if the system requires no mention of God or the goodness of faith by the volunteers. That is impossible, as those that receive will know anyway; they are being served by people that care, regardless, by good people serving others because they have a heart and relationship with the Lord.

Separation of Church and State

Separation of church and state in the USA is good, but it is not part of the Constitution. Government is not to be a second voice in what the church has to inform its parishioners.  There, however, should be no stop to expressing the views of the church in the public square.  It is just an opinion, but one divinely inspired by God. The soap box should be as much a dais for political activists and religious evangelizers, especially when the common good of everyone is the subject matter.  How can that be a problem or offensive?  It is not unusual for a speech expressing views counter to many, yet that freedom is afforded under our Constitution.  How many agree with Obama?  How many agree with Trump?  Does that suggest they cannot hold an audience and say what they believe?  How is it different for a spokesperson for God or a simple reading or reference to the bible?  Even if that takes place in a public school?  Muslims often cry out they are being offended.  What happens to the cry of the Christian offended by an Islamist? An atheist? A liberal progressive socialist?  Let them all proselytize, as long as no harm comes to another.  The operative term is ‘harm.’

“Sticks or stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  This idiom acknowledges there may be persecution by third parties, but they should not be casting rocks, aspersions are OK, but bullets, baseball bats, or other weapons are not permitted. Today, it must be noted, requests for legislation criminalizing ‘hate speech’ are being called for in places like Pakistan, in the UK, and have even passed in Sweden.  Islamic protection organizations, most born out of the Muslim Brotherhood, along with the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) seek in non-Muslim areas, where Muslims are now emigrating and live, negative commentary, to include criticism, doubt and concerns, towards Islam be classified as ‘hate speech’ and culled from constitutional freedom of speech protection.  Church sermons are scrutinized in Sweden for negative comments towards homosexuals.

Church and Politics

Keeping the church out of state affairs is proper, but as a member do not be afraid to watch and speak up when the path being laid is counter to common sense and what is right. The voices of the church membership must be heard, and allowed to speak. Destroying God’s creation cannot be a goal.  Secularism does not mean separating church and state.  What was separated by our founding fathers, the patriarchs of America as a Nation, was any fee to be paid by the people to support the church and a national religion or mandated church membership.  We are not one church, one state.

Who it is that wants our world destroyed, who desire the soul of every human to live sans God, is naught but evil. Their creation is one of chaos and confusion.  Keep an eye on the King.  The End of Secularism reminds us, “Temporal kingdoms have no eternal destiny.  The church does” (pg. 148 of 217).

What controls your heart, your soul?  Is it good or is it evil?  The church is needed to keep the lights shining on the human soul and remind our leaders that they cannot erase the outside influence on all of our lives.  Without the supernatural outside force everything would rot, decay, fall fallow, remain unclean, messy, rusty, un-oiled, disorganized, misguided, chaotic and confused.  Nothing would be refreshed or function properly. Where that happens it is evil that has been allowed to exist.

Government needs God and government needs the church.  The voice of God through the Word of God must be heard and never suppressed.    Humans must know how to recognize and resist the evils, the darkness, that abounds.  When the heart of the human is for God, light shines, evil is kept at bay, and God’s kingdom on earth grows.  Peace will then trump chaos.

Grace and Peace

An added read if interested.  “Secular society appears to have reached its terminus point. It is stuttering, gasping, and beginning to collapse.” – Dr. Steve Turley.  (Read)

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Visit Amazon to purchase Tom Balderston’s most recent book, The Wonder of Terra.  Read it and discover a new view of the good and evil of the world, along with creation and our existence.  Other books are also available, to include, The Damascus Quran, a novel.