An article in Evangelicals for Social Action says that Christianity Is Neither Democratic nor Republican—It’s Better Than Both
The article starts out by saying “If Christianity means loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and loving your neighbor as yourself, then people of both political persuasions fall short of Christ’s central doctrine of sacrificial love.”
Perhaps that would be true IF there were any record of that ideal being part of organized Christianity. Instead, Stephen Mattson goes on to say “Followers of Christ must realize that the Kingdom of Heaven will never be fully realized through worldly governments or carnal politics, but rather through the love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. “
In other words, despite his good intent, Mr. Mattson is saying that only through the Chrsitan god, the self sacrifical Jesus, can one be a good person. If his Jesus ever existed and thought that, wouldn’t we regard the person as being more like Trump then like Gandhi?
Christianity has two concepts that cause considerable tension. One in that it embraces the concept of separation of church and state, and the other that Christians should establish the city of god here on Earth. Maybe the Mormons have succeeded in Salt Lake City, but historically this city of God really exists as in the City of Rome, which has within it the Vatican and remnants of the papal states. The Pope can bring Italy to a complete stop. Figuratively and in actuality. The Vatican is a member of the UN.
While the United States is not a Christian nation the reason for that is over a hundred years of religious wars in Europe and the individual colonies being founded some as refuges from those wars, or at least release values for England by giving Catholics a place to settle like Maryland. Our early states are bastions of being cities of God, though of different flavors so they had to embrace the concept of separation of church and state, even if it was more of not letting one church have a higher pulpit upon the new nation, so we got a true separation and acceptance of men being able to believe as they will. Except on Sundays in Massachusetts, but they did let the Irish in eventually.
Now time to enjoy the true national religion in the Superbowl which causes these evangelicals considerable consternation. (NOt that a few of them have not laid a few bets with a bookie with some righteous dollar bills…ain’t no rest for the wicked.
“Christianity has two concepts that cause considerable tension. One in that it embraces the concept of separation of church and state” BS