It’s the time again where the Christian political machine is revving up for another presidential election. This is a time, as a Christian, I truly dread.
This is the time where human sexuality, abortion, gay marriage, etc., rule the voting consciences of many Christians. It comes down to a simple principle:
The religious right believes you should legislate morality.
For many voters, this principle goes unquestioned. But is this compatible with the Christian faith? I personally don’t think so.
One simple question states my case pretty clearly. If over night, we were able to pass every single law the religious right would have enacted, would that make our country Christian?
Here are a few more questions to get your minds going: Would it change one single heart? Would it make one single person a follower of Jesus by the enactment of these laws of morality?
Or how about this different set of questions: Would it make those who do not follow Jesus hate his followers even more? Would it close the minds of those already hardened to the message of Christ? Could it possibly increase sin all the more?
Since Christians cannot simply enact all the laws they want over night, these questions could be written off as unnecessary fantasy. But if those questions apply to my fictitious scenario, they could also apply at varying levels to the actual situation.
When one “legal victory” is gained by the religious right, does it draw people closer to Christ or repel them for being forced to follow a morality they do not understand? Does it instill Christian grace in this country, or does it bolster a sense of legalism which both those in and outside of the church strongly sense in today’s evangelicalism?
The attention on legislating morality also hinders Christians from positive political activity which would be in line with their faith. Helping shape the government of the most powerful nation in the world in to a grace-giving, compassionate, force for good would be a real possibility if the religious right were not so obsessed with keeping gays from being married.
Assisting those in need and helping women most at risk for unwanted pregnancies would practically reduce the numbers of abortions. But instead, a war is waged which may never be won. It’s all or nothing for the religious right. How does this match up with what we do for the least of these, we do for Jesus? It doesn’t.
And what about ending corruption in our government? Why aren’t prominent Christians asking the difficult questions about why our civil liberties are vanishing before our very eyes and no one seems to be doing anything about it? Why aren’t our religious leaders questioning how oil companies have made record profits while the country is lead by an oil baron president? That fact isn’t enough to convict George W. Bush of any wrongdoing, but why aren’t they even asking the questions?
How is it I can cross the border and pay $2.83 a gallon for gas, but the cheapest station in my area has gas for $4.49? How does a company once run by the Vice President make billions off of a war most of the country no longer wants us to be in (and if we weren’t told it was unpatriotic wouldn’t have wanted us in in the first place)?
By now, you’ve already resonated with my questions and comments, or you probably aren’t reading any more. Let me just say, for the record, I am not a Democrat. I am no longer a Republican. I will most likely vote Democrat for the first time in my life for President (I voted Green Party last time because I could not respect either candidate from the major political parties), because Obama’s political concerns line up more closely (not anywhere close to perfectly) with my religious beliefs than John McCain’s. A part of my religious beliefs are that you should vote for the person who will do the most good for our country and our world. I am not interested in McCain’s stance on gay marriage, abortion, or any other moral issue a politician could seek to legislate. I am interested in both candidate’s ability to help those in need, respond compassionately to a world filled with strife, and to pursue the best path for the most powerful nation in the world.
We legislate morality all the time. All of our laws are based on moral principal. Why is murder and rape against the law….because it is morally wrong to murder and rape someone.
eddie
July 20th, 2008
Eddie - I would disagree. While I would not say murder and rape are not moral issues, I would say the reason we legislate them has more to do with social contract theory than morality.
Given that we live in a democracy, it would be hard to argue that the laws in our country our based on anything but social contract theory.
By this, I mean that we are governed by the laws we agree to live by. The overwhelming majority do not want murderers and rapists to kill and rape without penalty. So, they are against the law.
It is not immoral for a 17-year old to marry a 25-year old, for example, but in many states (perhaps all, I’m just trying to give a quick example), the people agree to live where that is not acceptable (except with parental consent or sometimes the court’s permission).
Your statement “We legislate morality all the time” is only true in the sense that we have laws regarding moral issues. It does not mean we are legislating an absolute moral code.
Alan
July 22nd, 2008
Many would argue that it is immoral for a 17 year old to marry a 25 year old. Now as the to reason that we have a social contract one would have to wonder where that came from. How did we come to this social contract? Why do we as a society agree that murder and rape should be against the law. We have decided it is wrong but what made us make that decision. I think we arrived at that decision because rape and murder are morally wrong and down deep inside of us we know that. Why would we legislate them if we did not think they were morally wrong.
eddie
July 23rd, 2008
Well, those who would argue my marriage hypothetical is immoral would need to argue that the marriage between Joseph and the mother of Jesus was immoral. Or would they argue it’s only immoral now because of our culture? Sounds more like a social contract than morality, if that’s the case.
You asked why we would legislate them if we did not think they were morally wrong. There are a lot of answers. Self-preservation being the foremost. We want to live in a society where we are not at risk as much as possible. Passing certain laws reduces the risk to human life.
Where do you stop if you legislate things such as marriage? It used to be a law in many states you could not practice homosexuality at all. Will that be the next step after making sure legally marriage is only between a man and a woman?
And back to my original question in the post… If all the moral laws the religious right wanted were passed over night, would that make the country any more Christian? Would it draw one single person closer to Christ? How many would it drive even further away from grace?
Alan
July 23rd, 2008
No it would not make the country Christian over night. But at the same time that does not mean we should not stand up for what we believe in. Do I think that everything that is immoral be against the law. No I do not . But there are some that should be…murder is one…which is why i believe that abortion should be outlawed. I think it is immoral to murder another human being and I think that humanity knows in their heart it is wrong. All I am saying is that we do use morality as a basis to enact certain laws. Self-preservation is not why murder is wrong. Murder is wrong because it destroys something created in the image of God. That is what makes it immoral.
eddie
July 23rd, 2008
Also we have no control over whether or not someone is drawn towards the grace of the holy spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one that draws people to grace and not us.
eddie
July 23rd, 2008
I also believe in standing up for what you believe in.
Practically speaking, if Christians put as much effort the last 34 years at helping women in unwanted pregnancies as they have for trying to reverse roe vs. wade, the number of abortions in this country would have been drastically less.
So from my perspective, focusing solely on the legal means to stopping abortions actually resulted in more unborn babies being killed.
Think of all the things that were “legal” in Jesus day under the Roman Empire. Yet the call of Jesus was never to try and change Roman law.
By focusing on changing laws to enact Christian morality, an even more hostile attitude towards the church is nurtured in the culture and the end results Christians should be seeking are ultimately unfulfilled.
Alan
July 27th, 2008