Religion and politics must mix

One of the cardinal clichés of modern secular and church thinking alike is: You don’t mix politics and religion. But I have long disagreed and contended that, as goes the Church in America—so goes America. In fact, I find that where we get into trouble is when we don’t mix them. Although many may disagree, the fact is that the principles of Christianity are the foundation of the social code for America’s original charter. I believe that what is wrong in American government today began going wrong in the Church first. The responsibility has always—and will always—rest on our shoulders.

Pulpits once alive with the “flame of righteousness” that Alex de Tocqueville wrote about in his early American exposé Democracy in America, have today acquiesced to much the same political correctness of the times, along with every other American institution. A Church that once held a nation’s moral feet to the fire is, for the most part, silent today. Church marquees announce coming charity benefits, bazaars and quilting parties, but few speak to the headlines of the day.

With few exceptions, the great majority of churchgoers across the land will hear nothing about political issues in next week’s sermon. This week, the halls outside the House and Senate Chamber doors in every state and in our nation’s Capitol will be lined with representatives from nearly every corporate and governmental entity conceivable. But they will see little or no representation from the Bible-believing churches. Instead of confronting a government that promotes rebellion against God, most of today’s churches will cower from committing to battle, fearful of endangering their beloved 501(c)3 tax-exempt status.

In large part, the Church today no longer permeates the land or the culture, which God called it to subdue. Strangely, God’s people have become repulsed by politics and have handed the reins off to a godless secular mob. And, like our secular counterparts, we have become driven by the same polls, cultural whims, and myths that are the latest radio and television talk show fads. Many in the Church have acquiesced to the same worldly mindset that now treats theory as fact and the Bible as myth, keeping religion tucked neatly away in little buildings on Sunday mornings.

I have found that our growing expulsion from today’s public debate is due to our own apathy. Meanwhile, lurking in the shadows, there is a mounting threat to the American Church and freedom of worship. We are rapidly losing our ability to speak.

Politics is war and must be viewed as such. It is a war of ideologies. Held in the balance are the rights of man, of which the apex for all Americans is life and liberty. History reminds us that when politics of the legislatures fail and tyranny advances, sooner or later the final round of debate takes place on an open battlefield. So, it is essential that we begin to rediscover the price of our liberty that we received, first through shed blood of Jesus Christ, and then through the blood that was shed by the many brave American men and women who have stood for that liberty since our beginning.

I believe the battle for America today is not about economics, equality, personal prosperity, or any of the other issues presented in the evening news. The true battle for the American Dream is about freedom of thought, which in my mind is the only true foundation of liberty. If this is true, then freedom of thought and freedom of worship are one and the same and make up the cornerstone of true liberty. Any hope we have of enduring as a free nation starts here. And if history proves correct, the day freedom of worship is lost will be the day we make our final decent into tyranny like so many other civilizations before us. From my vantage in the political arena, that day is quickly approaching.