Christianity and Our Democracy

Christianity and Our Democracy

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed. . . .” The Declaration of Independence,July 4, 1776.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Amendment I, the Constitution of the United States of America. 1791

Reflections on the Foundations of My Life Belief System--God and Country:

God. Christianity is the foundation of what I consider right and wrong, at least within my mortal understanding. There is such a thing as absolute truth. I have tried to the best of my ability to live within these guidelines.

Country. I believe that our country’s founding government documents are based on the belief that our rights are given to us by God, not by government; and that we, the people are charged with keeping government from taking those rights away from us.

Therefore, I consider protecting our freedoms to be my Christian duty and the duty of all Americans, especially Christians. To be a good Christian in a democracy, one must also be a good citizen. If we lose our country’s founding principles, I (we) lose ½ of my (our) belief system and our way of life. One of our freedoms is our freedom of religion. The right to worship as we please is on the ballot this November, hidden of course, but it’s there. So are the rest of our personal freedoms and property rights.

The Role of Christian Churches in Our Democracy

When our government was formed, Christianity was really the only religion in America. Christianity was being told by the 1st Amendment that it cannot establish rules that deny individuals the right to believe and organize otherwise. But it was expected that all persons including Christians would teach their children the concept that our rights come from God, not from government and that it is our responsibility to see to it that no government ever take those God-given rights away from us.

The original primary reason for educating our children was to teach them to read the Bible and live by what it taught. But fast forward 250 years: Posting the Ten Commandments in public places, praying and teaching morality in schools has long been interpreted as establishing a religion and therefore unconstitutional. The effect has been the moral decline of our society. Since the advent of cars, society is no longer sedentary like it was when church meetings were about the only social gathering or activity there was. The role of the church has been diminished.

The America we now live in is very secular. Churches and religion have been sidelined and, in varying degrees and in varying localities, infiltrated with worldly interpretations and beliefs. Mostly, churches do not speak up, although some politicians are good Christians.

The people are very divided. Freedom of speech is denied by some in positions of power to those with opposing views. Financial and legal penalties are meted out to discourage dissent. Lawlessness is rampant and largely unpunished. It’s like a new Tower of Babbel has descended upon us, but it isn’t sent by God. It is by design by some unscrupulous persons who want to remake society and control it.

People in churches are helping each other and the less fortunate. They do immense good in the world. But going to church is like pretending all is well while the Titanic is sinking below us. No one can speak of a catastrophic danger looming over us, threatening to swallow us as individuals and our churches. It’s pretending the elephant isn’t in the room when it’s like a huge balloon that may soon burst around us.

Most churches don’t want to take a stand for or against a political party, and that is wise because good Christian people can have different views, and we don’t want to divide the church. However, churches could encourage good citizenship, staying informed, praying more for our country and encourage voting. A democracy only gets as good a government as the people demand. If Christians don’t vote, we are helping the forces of evil. The churches should be advocating for good citizenship.

Before 2020, mainstream parties’ candidates for the Presidency and Congress mostly had mainstream beliefs, both believing in the concepts of freedom and protection of our rights. Those in power mostly abided by the Constitution. Now one party favors power over our rights and is attempting to discard the Constitution and gain permanent control. The other party seeks to preserve our rights and abide by the Constitution. A biased press is misleading (brainwashing – now called gaslighting) many good unsuspecting souls, to the extent that people are divided as to which party they think is for democracy and which one will destroy it. Now more than ever, it is essential that Christians understand their duty to be good citizens, to be involved in the election process – become informed, pray, vote and keep on praying. While the church cannot take the side of one party over the other, it can impress upon its membership the importance of Christians being informed praying and voting citizens.

“Those who have known freedom and lost it have never tasted it again.” Ronald Reagan. This election will be a watershed election. “Either you will control the government, or the government will control you.” also Ronald Reagan.

Bev Wright