Why I Don't Want To Live in a "Christian" Nation
What does it mean to be a "Christian" nation? I've heard it said a lot that we are a Christian nation or that we began as a Christian nation or that we are no longer a Christian nation, but what exactly does that mean? When I look at the connotation of any nation being associated with a single religion, such as a Muslim nation for instance, it doesn't exactly conjure up a real positive image.
In case you haven't guessed yet, I am a Christian but I view Christianity not as a religion but as a personal faith, a relationship, between a human being and God. How can a nation possibly be "Christian?" One of the main concerns that I have with people wanting America to become a Christian nation is that we as voters begin to vote based on religion rather than competency. We begin to ask ourselves questions like, "Could I ever vote for a Mormon?" for instance.
In my heart, I truly believe that we cannot allow our religious beliefs to cloud our judgement when it comes to voting. The modern church seems to have become more focused on getting a Christian into office than we are about being a Christian at the office. I think voting should be based much more on values than religion, and yes, there really is a difference. If I vote my values, I can vote for an someone of any belief system or even an atheist, if they value the things I value in a nation. Someone having to believe the world is 6,000 years old is really not a very important concern to me when it comes to running my country.
When it comes time to vote for a new pastor at my church I will vote based on theological beliefs, when it comes to voting for a president I will vote for who I think is the best person for the job. As Christians, when we fight to have a Christian nation, then we are devaluing every other faith system out there, which ironically makes us just like the system we were fleeing to come here in the first place. If Christianity is so wonderful, we should not need to legislate it, we should simply put it on display for the world to see for themselves.
We can't value other faith systems, Will. We can value all people but if they believe in another God we can't value that. Yes, everyone has a choice as to whether they believe in the real and only God or a fake God with a demon behind it but that choice is not to be valued. God says that He hates other religions, not the people, just the false religion because that religion is separating the people from God and they are being deceived. All roads do lead to God but the road of other religions lead to God as Judge, not as loving Father. That is not a good road for anyone. I can tolerate their religious choices, but i cannot say it's okay or that I value it because God does not.
ReplyDeleteThis country was a great experiment. Do you know about the persecuted church in other places? This country alone was going to be the place that Christianity could be practiced without fear and our government was based on Godly principles, seeing what was classified as right or wrong through God's eyes. All you have to do is read the constitution to see that we were based on Godly principles. Our government was set up to emulate God as King, judge, and lawgiver. Isaiah 33:22. Or go to Washington, D.C., and see scripture written on all the monuments to know that this country was based on Godly principles. What a noble, wonderful idea. What could be better then to be based on true fairness and justice, seeing everything through the eyes of the one true God. But it was not to be. We cannot make paradise on earth because we are all sinful people. Eventually someone had to come along who didn't want to play by God's rules because that is our nature. And now we have passed a time that we can vote on someone because they are Christian. We have come so far down the road from God that true Christians won't be allowed to run for office. And if they run, they won't win. Our country has come too far from what God wants of us that they can't stomach the real thing. So we do need to vote for someone who matches our values as closely as possible. And our values need to be the same as God's if we are Christians. I think voting is a great privilege and we are to do it. But just as someone from another country would have to vote for the best person to do the job out of two not very good candidates, we are now in that same position.