STORY: The American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is the foremost anti-Christian organization with
an agenda of radical secularization of all institutions. In the past decade, it
has tried to censor Christmas through legal terrorism by suing anyone dare to
celebrate Christmas in public (including Christmas carols, Christmas
decorations, Christmas trees). Here are some results based on the action of
ACLU.
In California, a school district rejected any reference to
Christmas yet allowed Halloween celebrations. A principal ordered his teachers
never to utter the word “Christmas” in class and not include it in written
materials.
The New York City Department of Education prohibits the display
of Christian Nativity scenes, while it “expressly permits and encourages” the
display of the Jewish Menorah and the Islamic Star and Crescent. What is your
reaction?
Background:
Historically, evangelical
churches avoid participating in political activities. However, there have been
changes in the US where the Christian Coalition began their activities in 1986
trying to mobilize Christians to elect like-minded politicians. The effect was
largely felt in the 1994 election when many politicians sympathetic to
Christian morality and family values (mostly Republicans) were elected.
In Canada, the Evangelical
Fellowship of Canada tries to represent Christians before the government. Many
pro-life pro-family groups have been organized by Christians to influence the
political system.
a. The Bible explicitly
teaches two things about government:
(1) The main duty of the
government is to maintain order in the society; this can be achieved by
rewarding the good and punishing the evil (Ro 13:1-7; 1Pe 2:13-15).
(2) Christians are to submit to
the government because all authorities are from God:
o
Mt 17:24-27; 22:15-22 Taxes are legitimate even for a foreign
government.
o
Jn 19:8-11
God had given the government authority to rule.
o
Ro 13:1-7; 1Pe 2:13-17 Paul asked Christians to submit to the
government which at that time was a foreign government.
b. Modern governments
extend their authority to many more areas than those specified in the Bible.
Should Christians support it?
·
Some functions are necessary for all countries,
such as defence, diplomacy.
·
Some activities of the government is part of the
work of providing justice, including helping the poor, the weak, and the
powerless, especially widows and orphans (Am 5:11-12; Isa 10:1-2).
·
Some people argue that such work should be done
by the church and voluntary organizations. Yet, social programs administered by
the government are in many cases necessary to ensure an acceptable living
standard for everyone. Nevertheless, the proliferation of social programs has
led to widespread abuse. At the present, there is probably very little need for
more social programs.
·
There is always a danger of a power grab by the
government. Most western democracies have expanded into all aspects of life
(even intervening into family life and religious life). They have too much
power which is supported by too much taxes. [In the US, the tax freedom day was
April 30 in 2000, meaning that one-third of everyone’s income is used to pay
taxes. Since then, it has been moved up (with the many tax cuts of President
Bush) to April 19 in 2003, the earliest since 1992.] Such power grab can only
be curtailed with a tax cut.
Tax Freedom Day
“Tax freedom day” is the day on
which a person finishes paying taxes with all he/she earns since January 1 in
each year. One can only keep what one earns from that day to December 31.
In the US in 2003, a typical
worker works 74 days to pay federal taxes, 35 days to pay state/local taxes
(total 30%).
housing: 61 days, food: 30 days, clothing:
14 days , transportation: 28 days, recreation: 21 days, medical care: 44 days,
other expenditure: 46 days, savings: 11 days.
In UK, the tax freedom day is June
2. In Canada, it is around June 15 for a family with average income, even later
for higher income families. In other words, almost half of the money we earn
goes to the government.
c. Limit to government
power:
·
Private morality of an individual should not be
subject to government interference. But it is the proper function of the
government to concern with the interests of public morality, that is, once the
action of an individual affects other persons. The government must aim at using
ordinances and laws to facilitate and advance morally good behaviour in the
public. For example, one can abuse one’s own body with all kinds of unhealthy
habits. But when one tries to encourage other people to follow his unhealthy
lifestyle, the government should stop it.
a. The ideal government is
a theocracy, one that is ruled directly by God. Since theocracy is not imposed
by God in this world, democracy is the next best form of government which
shares its power among all citizens. It is based on two Biblical principles:
(1) Since all are created in
God’s image, everyone is equal before God and power should not be totally held
by an elite or by a dictator.
(2) Since man is corrupted by
sin, human power needs to be curbed and regulated. (“Power tends to corrupt,
and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad
men.” Lord Acton, 1834-1902)”
b. Human authority is from
God (Jn 19:11; Ro 13:1-2), including all governments. Opposing a
legitimate government is opposing God-given authority. Christians are commanded
to pray for “all who are in high positions” (1Ti 2:2) and to submit “for the
Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men” (1Pe 2:13).
c. Paul lived under a
foreign authoritative and polytheistic government of the Roman Empire but still
asked Christians to submit. Thus Christians should not oppose the government
simply because it is atheist.
a. Submission to the
government does not force one to ignore God-given tasks or divine principles of
morality.
b. Christians have no
obligation to obey the government when:
·
The government commits actions contrary to its
duties (such as persecuting the innocent, example: massacre of innocent
students by the Chinese government at Tienanmen Square on June 4, 1989).
·
The government writes laws that violate moral
principles (such as legalizing same-sex marriage).
·
The government conflicts with the God’s commands
(such as forbidding worship).
c. In these cases, God’s
commands take precedence (Ac 5:29) and Christians have the responsibility to
engage in social action. Example in the Bible: God rewarded the midwives who
disobeyed the evil command of the Pharaoh (Ex 1:15-21).
a. Voting in an election
is a civic duty of every citizen. A Christian should not neglect his duty.
b. More importantly, the
government is a very powerful institution that affects (and often controls)
almost all aspects of our lives. If such power falls into evil people’s hands,
everyone will be affected by the evil policies and the society will fall into
evil ways. This is surely not what God wants.
c. The government is a
power that controls lives of all citizens because:
(1) It can allocate resources.
It can legitimize activities that would otherwise be regarded as illegal. For
example, Robin Hood robbed the rich and gave to the poor. But his action was
illegal. But if a government passes laws to redistribute income from the rich
to the poor. Such action becomes legal.
(2) It can allocate values, that
is, what is right and what is wrong. Political decision-making is never
value-free. The government uses laws to encourage behaviour that it regards as
right and to discourage behaviour that it regards as wrong.
(3) It uses its power through
force. Government acts not as an agent of love but a resort to force. It holds
institutionally legitimized rights to use the sword to effectively carry out
its decisions. It can use brute force to enforce its laws, such as using the
police to apprehend and imprison criminals. More often, it uses the threat of
force and the financial clout to enforce compliance, sometimes against
law-abiding citizens. For example, it can force an organization to terminate
its activities by withdrawing the tax-exempt charitable status (thus drastically
reduce the income).
(4) It applies its force to all
society. All other associations in the society are voluntary and also limited
in scope. The government directs its use of force to every single person and
can expand to whatever scope it desires. No one can escape the government,
whether one desires it or not.
d. Christians are told to
be salt and light of the world (Mt 5:13-16), that is, to permeate and influence
our society. Light is used to offer guidance and direction and to shine into
the darkness. As light, we are to uphold a moral way of life in this morally
dark world. Salt is used to preserve and to soak into the decaying meat. As
salt, we are to preserve the world from moral corruption in this morally
declining society. Both goals can be achieved if we use the vote to give power
to like-minded politicians.
e. Christians need to be
careful about what choice we make in an election. When we elect an individual
to represent us, we are in effect giving power to this person to act on behalf
of us. If we elect politicians who use that power to harm our society must
share the responsibility of causing this harm.
f. Christians should
cast the vote on the basis of issues, not personalities. Before voting, we
should try to understand the economic and social platforms that the political
candidates hold.
g. A government’s social
policies often influence the morality of the society and have long-lasting
impact on our culture. It is unfortunate that too often Christians, like everyone
lese, vote for our pocketbooks. We vote for a government which is more likely
to give us economic prosperity. Christians should put greater emphasis on
social policies when voting.
a. In terms of politics,
there are 3 different positions that the church can take:
(1) Imposition or Domination:
imposing the Biblical moral standard on the society through legislation or by
force. Example: Spanish Inquisition in the 13th century, prohibition of alcohol
in the US in the 1920s.
(2) Laissez-faire or
Separation: letting the society run its own course. Example: silence of the
church in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
·
These two positions have been proved to be
improper and sometimes disastrous by historical examples.
(3) Persuasion and
Integration: exerting influence to persuade the government to apply moral
principles based on rational arguments, and effecting changes through the
democratic process.
b. Politics is an
authoritative use of power. Our world and our society will be better if such
power is in the hands of Christians.
c. Participation by the
individual is encouraged but God’s guidance has to be sought, especially when
facing the problems of “dirty politics” (as it is impossible to be totally
honest and non-manipulative as a politician). Christian politicians need to be
careful about the temptation of power. Many Christians, once got power, become
corrupted and use power in ungodly ways. Others sacrificed their Christian
principles to maintain their power.
d. The church, however,
should avoid association with any political party or would risk discord and
division within the church. Yet, the church has the responsibility to speak up
against ungodly laws and ungodly actions promoted by the government.