Politics/Government – My Beloved is Mine

Cultural Norms

mybelovedismine — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 23:06:00 +0000

A theme of the scripture is that “everyman did what was right in his own eyes” and this was the promise of the serpent in the garden of Eden – they would be like God, determining good and evil for themselves. All history, every culture is plagued by this encumbrance. We may become too strict or not hold anything back, but all on this continuum is doing what we see is right. There is a reason some defy their culture and some feel secure holding on to cultural norms. We find comfort in remaining in the continuum. It is our security. Jesus called us out of the continuum to something grander and more beautiful, a life that doesn’t fit on the continuum of cultural norms or cultural freedom. He has called us to something that is holy. In his life, death, and resurection Jesus disrupted the continuum, and will return to destroy it. Whether you are religious, licentious, free-spirited, reserved – all of this falls away when we come face to face with Jesus. Will we hold onto “our own way” and reap the consequences or will we be held in the tender embrace of Jesus?

Getting rid of the elite

mybelovedismine — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 18:37:00 +0000

Problems are complex and because of sin all solutions are tainted and whatever we do in solving a problem is fraught with unattended consequences. So, when we are discussing ideas and solutions to probems, we must keep this in mind. For example, for solving poverty, some look to capitalism and some to socialism. Capitalism has its woes; Socialism has its dangers. Both have their corrupt people and both have those who want to do good. For those who want to do good, both sides care about the poor, and both sides believe they are giving power to the people. Both have an unattended consequence of creating the elite. Capitalism has its elite and Socialism has its elite. This is human nature. The elite will always justify their position and will use power to keep it. Pride and greed are always present.

We cannot solve poverty or get rid of the elite with Capitalism or Socialism. Though Socialism makes this claim, in reality there is only a switch of one kind of elitism to another form of elitism. You will never have a pure Capitalist society. Nor will a pure Socialist society thrive. I believe it is best to give more power to the people and less to government. My problem with Socialism is that the Bible talks about bringing the poor to your table. This is a very intimate way of caring for the poor. You must be close, clean their wounds, wash their feet. After being a deacon, I realize socialism has wrested that power away from us. As deacons, we wanted to give money to others, but we also wanted to walk with them, not just walk by them and leave them lingering on the roadside. As deacons we were hindered in what we could do because of government interference. What must drive our concern for the poor must be love, not guilt. Using the government as an excuse to walk by without engaging will never work. Love is intimate and must be done with open hands. So, if love is intimate, the question is how do you give more power to the people who are able to love those around them. Voting is one way to have power. Money is another. Neither Socialism or Capitalism will solve this problem, but here is a place for a dialogue to begin.

Power of the oligarchy

mybelovedismine — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:04:00 +0000

If any branch of a government can makes decisions or laws based on their own “interpretation” of the constitution or outside the constitution, there ceases to be a republic, and it instead replaced by an oligarchy.

Christian Nation?

mybelovedismine — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:02:00 +0000

I think there has been some confusion on whether the United States began as a Christian nation or not. The issue becomes muddled as people try to take one position or the other in some polarized version of an answer to this question. This nation was founded by men who were both Christian and not Christian. They were men who had an understanding of history and wanted to develop a country based on strong principles and foundations, learned from the lessons of history. And, yes, some wanted this nation to honor God. But even though all were not Christian, both non-Christian and Christian men drew many of their morals and principles from Christian and Biblical ideas. And there was a strong Christian influence in their thinking. So, despite the fact that both non-Christian and Christian men founded this nation, Christian principles had a huge part in developing our nation. That cannot be denied. So even though you might say that this nation was not founded as a Christian nation, it is very clear that it had a very strong Christian influence in its development. Our nation was not found in perfection and deep and dreadful sins of our past plague us. And we are a mixture of both good and bad. I don’t know that we are a Christian nation, though it has influenced us.

We do know this – the scripture is very clear that a nation is greater, when their laws are based on Christian principles. The Constitution is set up not to deter this, but to allow for those in government to make decisions based on principles, as long as they are not unconstitutional. So as Christians it is important that we bring our Christian principles into the way we make decisions in government. I think this is safe, because the scriptures tell us to honor the ruler of the land. In our nation, that is not a man, but the Constitution. So, a Christian will try to honor the Constitution in the decisions they make and also respecting those constitutionally elected to offices.

My point is we cannot deny that Christian principles had a part in the founding of our nation, whether or not it was founded as a Christian nation. And, today, whether or not our nation is a Christian nation, we cannot separate our Christian principles from the decisions we make for our nation, nor do we need to be ashamed of our wanting to bring Christian principles into governmental decisions.