Life of Pride
Monday, March 24, 2008
Barack Obama promises change. America responds to his rhetoric; we understand the country is broken, and he hits on the sore points. We always have the same sore points, don't we? Whatever hurts us becomes the place at which we can be manipulated. Racism works, because those who suffer slurs for things they cannot change will feel great hurt. Broken public schools also work, because everyone responds on the gut level to threats to their children. Especially, in the latter case, if parents feel guilty for their own neglect of their kids.
The problem with America, really, is lack of faith - just like with individuals. The more godless this nation becomes, the more people want to fix things by themselves, with no reference to God. For many liberals, this means implementing government programs by whatever means they can justify. They believe the claim that we can actually create heaven on earth.
The problem is that every one of us humans is desperately sinful, and Christ is the center of all existence - yet none of us can change another person's heart. A system of law and government that is focused on glorifying God will therefore always be ordered to maintain the most individual freedom for its members. Only in a system with freedom of speech and free enterprise are people able to spread the Gospel at will. They are able to speak, and they have the resources to dedicate to this good work. At the same time, history has shown that any attempt to ordain a theocracy has only ended in the same power being co-opted by a new wave of humans with more evil motives. Whether for good or for ill, government has to keep its fingers out of its people's business, because eventually power-hungry humans will always turn it to ill.
Without Christ as the center, if people have been taught to believe that this world is all there is, and if they haven't been told the lessons of the twentieth century, they are open to any emotional appeal that promises them what they want. Problem is, no gift is free. Anything you don't work for that you get anyway is part of someone else's sacrifice.
The problem with America, really, is lack of faith - just like with individuals. The more godless this nation becomes, the more people want to fix things by themselves, with no reference to God. For many liberals, this means implementing government programs by whatever means they can justify. They believe the claim that we can actually create heaven on earth.
The problem is that every one of us humans is desperately sinful, and Christ is the center of all existence - yet none of us can change another person's heart. A system of law and government that is focused on glorifying God will therefore always be ordered to maintain the most individual freedom for its members. Only in a system with freedom of speech and free enterprise are people able to spread the Gospel at will. They are able to speak, and they have the resources to dedicate to this good work. At the same time, history has shown that any attempt to ordain a theocracy has only ended in the same power being co-opted by a new wave of humans with more evil motives. Whether for good or for ill, government has to keep its fingers out of its people's business, because eventually power-hungry humans will always turn it to ill.
Without Christ as the center, if people have been taught to believe that this world is all there is, and if they haven't been told the lessons of the twentieth century, they are open to any emotional appeal that promises them what they want. Problem is, no gift is free. Anything you don't work for that you get anyway is part of someone else's sacrifice.
Comments:
But what about practical democracy in a fallen world and a society that is religiously heterogeneous?
Post a Comment
