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CHRISTIANS IN A SECULAR DEMOCRACY

  by Bill McGinnis, Public Domain
  


   In many ways, secular democracy accomplishes the will of God.
   Non-religious people, freely governing themselves, will tend to enact
   laws which promote the general happiness and well-being of their
   society, as best they understand it. As a bare minimum, they will have
   laws against murder, assault, and theft, just as Christians have. They
   will tend to transfer wealth from the rich to the poor, as
   Christianity also requires. They will tend to establish at least one
   day per week of rest, as Christianity also requires. They will tend to
   protect children and other defenseless persons, as Christianity also
   requires. They will tend to permit Christian worship, along with other
   religions, but they will tend not to support any particular religion
   unless that one religion is overwhelmingly dominant in their society.
   In general, a secular democracy tends to supply the legitimate needs
   of its people, as the people themselves determine. This is usually a
   good thing, and quite consistent with the will of God, who loves all
   people and wants all of our legitimate needs to be supplied.
   
   There are several major areas of tension, however, between
   Christianity and secular democracy. Christians need to recognize these
   areas of tension and develop suitable ways of dealing with them.
   
   The most obvious area of tension is the area of sexuality. Secular
   democracy tends to let everyone do whatever he wants to do, unless it
   clearly harms someone else. Accordingly, secular democracy will tend
   to allow all forms of sexual behavior unless someone clearly gets hurt
   by it. Thus homosexuality, adultery, bestiality, fornication, sexual
   display, and all other forms of sex will tend to be allowed, as long
   as nobody clearly gets hurt physically.
   
   In contrast, Christianity prohibits homosexuality, adultery, incest,
   and sex with animals. And many Christians also believe that all other
   forms of sexual behavior outside of marriage are prohibited.
   
   The second major area of tension is abortion. If secular democracy
   permits unlimited sex, then pregnancies will happen against the will
   of the mother. In such cases, secular democracy will tend to permit
   the mother to abort the unborn child if she desires to do so.
   
   In contrast, Christianity strictly prohibits abortion. Many Christians
   consider abortion to be murder. At the very least, abortion is the
   shedding of innocent blood, which is prohibited to Christians. And
   abortion assaults the God-given instincts of a mother to protect her
   young. (If she can kill it if it's two months before birth, why can't
   she also kill if it's two months after birth, or maybe two years after
   birth? What's the difference?)
   
   The third major area of tension is freedom of communication. Secular
   democracies tend to permit free communication of all kinds of content,
   regardless of how harmful it may be. This is justified as "freedom of
   the press" or "freedom of speech," both of which have become as gods
   to some people. Accordingly, any adult can now easily view detailed
   depictions of murder, robbery, torture, assault, rape, sex with
   animals, all other conceivable forms of sexual behavior, and all other
   forms of violent crime. And your ten-year-old can probably view the
   same things if he tries hard enough.
   
   The old saying, "Monkey see, monkey do," is true for many people. They
   see these things, and they want to try them out. Thus sin becomes
   widespread very quickly.
   
   In contrast, Christians are taught to avoid all forms of sin. To a
   Christian, these depictions of sin are repulsive. The Holy Spirit is
   grieved by them. But in a secular democracy, they are permitted and
   almost considered to be normal.
   
   What, then, are we Christians to do? How should we deal with the
   secular democracies in which we live?
   
   First, we ourselves should do as God commands us to do. We should
   avoid sin in all its forms, as the Holy Spirit leads us.
   
   But we should not withdraw from worldly society. We should participate
   in it, sharing and spreading and promoting our Christian values in the
   world as best we can. Jesus says that we are the "salt of the earth."
   The salt must not be concentrated in only one part of the bread. It
   should be spread throughout, imparting its flavor everywhere. For His
   own reasons, God permits good and evil to exist side-by-side in this
   world. We are the good. It is normal and expected that we should exist
   side-by-side with the evil in this world. Accept this fact and live
   with it. Do whatever you can, wherever you are.
   
   Each person's religion influences his politics. His religious values,
   or lack thereof, influence his positions on all political issues. If
   your religious values oppose abortion, then you should oppose abortion
   politically. If your religious values oppose visual depictions of
   crime, then you should oppose them politically. If your religious
   values oppose adultery, then you should oppose it politically. This is
   democracy! You are entitled to try to impose your values on others,
   just as they are entitled to try to impose their values on you. You
   will win some battles, and you will lose some. But you should always
   keep trying.
   
   God eventually uproots everything He opposes. Keep working, and be
   patient. Time is on our side.
   
   Blessings to you in Jesus Christ our Lord.

     Bill McGinnis  <><
     bmcgin@patriot.net
     http://www.patriot.net/users/bmcgin/ministries.html
           "Teaching The Joyful Christian Life"

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