:Reasonable Force

I am exceedingly thankful, both that President Bush has won re-election and that he has done so by a margin that made endless court challenges an exercise in futility. I was also thrilled at the defeat of Chief Obstructionist, Tom Daschle in South Dakota. That should go a long way toward helping the President get his judicial appointments through.

Now, however, is not the time for evangelical Christians to rest on their laurels and assume that everything is okay for another four years.

Everything is most assuredly not okay, nor will it be while we sit on the sidelines and let the GOP benefit from our numbers at the polls without holding their feet to the fire on the issues that move us.

The issues are many, and I won’t bother to try and prioritize them right now:

• Sanctity of life – We can be thankful, I think, that we have a strong advocate for this position in President Bush. Overturning Roe v. Wade is essential, as is holding the line on federally funded embryonic stem-cell research and cloning (if not pursuing outright bans on these abhorrent practices), and, dare I say it? pushing for restrictions on IVF techniques that result in embryos that will never be born and must therefore either be disposed of or stored indefinitely.
• Defense of marriage – The President has waffled on this issue. He is resolute regarding the definition of marriage, but has said that he would support civil unions. Either constitutes federal legitimization of, and I say this with absolutely no malice, deviant sexual practices that ought not be encouraged. Arguments about the government “in our bedrooms” carry no weight on this issue. The crux of the matter is that we have been bombarded with media and educational efforts to convince us that homosexuality is natural, normal and acceptable. It is none of these, and going along with that lie, albeit one that is fervently believed by many well-meaning people, does the homosexual no good and does society a great deal of harm. Is a Constitutional amendment the best way to address this? That question leads me to…
• Reining in Judicial Supremacists – Increasingly, federal judges are overstepping their constitutional bounds to not merely adjudicate, but to legislate, effectively denying the citizens of the United States their right to a representative government. It is because of these activist judges that we even find it necessary to consider an amendment to the Constitution over something like the definition of marriage. While many Christians are uncomfortable with this proposed resolution to the efforts to legitimize homosexuality, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts and other judiciaries have illustrated that, while we may be content to allow the issue to be decided at the state level, activist judges will not hesitate to impose their will over that of the public or their elected representatives.
• Defense of 2nd Amendment Rights – Why does an evangelical Christian care about the right to keep and bear arms? Because that’s the right that preserves all of the others. You don’t have to own a gun, but you had better insist on having the right to, or you will find yourself at the mercy first, of the criminals who ignore gun laws that you obey, and second, of your government when they decide that there are other freedoms they find it inconvenient for you to possess. Say, oh… I don’t know… freedom of worship, perhaps? We’re not there yet, and God willing never will be, but the more power governments appropriate for themselves, the less tolerant they tend to be of religions that believe in moral absolutes irrespective of the mandates of the State. And in the interest of avoiding such a state of affairs…
• Reversing the proliferation of entitlements – Our system is corrupted, but not by the billionaires or special interest groups. Our own greed is the hook that Washington has used to extend their tendrils ever increasingly into our lives. It’s a big and complex problem. For instance, pastors find themselves constrained by IRS regulations as to what they can and cannot say from their pulpits, but in reality, if we church members were willing to do without the exemption for the money we give to our churches there would be no constraints (barring absurd applications of wrongheaded hate-crimes legislation, but that’s a whole ‘nother story!). Then again, presumably the government is willing to exempt such giving in order to encourage what it recognizes as a benefit for society as a whole. Rather than trying to manipulate us, however, by taxing us, then giving us back some if we engage in behavior of which they approve, should they not simply do away with such social engineering and reduce everyone’s tax rates accordingly? But I digress… The point is that we should create, or find and support, educational programs that restore the value of doing for yourself rather than waiting for the government to do it for you. At the same time, we need to look around our own churches for opportunities to step in and provide some of the kind of assistance that people are increasingly looking to the government to provide, always keeping the “teach a man to fish” principle in mind. And starting right now we need to do everything we can to hold the spending line on existing government programs and fight the creation of new ones. It’s not feasible to cut everyone off cold, but the weaning process has got to start. We have seen some of that with attempts to reform Welfare. We need to see much more.
• Immigration reform – President Bush has done some good things, but not much of it has changed the fact that our borders are a sieve and remain our biggest point of vulnerability with regard to our terrorist enemies. I’ll let Michelle Malkin talk for me on this one.

I could go on, and each of the points above can be expanded on to the n^th degree, but hopefully you see my point. Admittedly, sometimes… often, in fact, I feel that the expansion of government and the trend toward globalism is as inexorable as the tide. I also frequently need to force myself to remember that the Church in America has more important priorities than the preservation of this representative republic. Nevertheless, I think it is inarguable that, while the Church may traditionally flourish and grow strong under persecution, we who live in a largely free and relatively open society have far more opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our neighbors and with the world than our brothers and sisters who must meet in secret for fear of government reprisals. (A fact that convicts me even as I write it, and for which I fear I will be held accountable. “Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.” -Luke 12:48b; Holman Christian Standard Bible)

To that end, it behooves us to be active citizens, involved in the process of government. We have every bit as much right to have our voices heard regarding public policy as those who have sought to tear down our foundations and guiding principles. Let us exercise it.

3 Comments