Stepping up on the political soapbox

It's a dangerous place to be, I know, especially for Christians. The secular world tells us to separate our religious beliefs from politics, but those of us whose faith is firmly engrafted with every other part of our life, that's just impossible to do. It's true that the Bible does not give firm directives for our involvement in politics (other than to "render to Caesar what is Caesar's" and to "honor the king"--Nero, at the time), but our freedom of religion and what we know of our nation's strongly Christian heritage both allows and requires us to use our convictions when participating in the political process.

It is argued that the very reason the United States "rose to power" and became uniquely respected by other nations was because of the values system that our Founding Fathers poured into her foundation.There is an old adage (which is wrongly attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville, but its origin is unknown) that says,

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers - and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce - and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution - and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great"

This quotation echoes of the respect held for America in other countries. True, many countries (or portions of those coutnries' populations) hold a deep-seeded resentment and hatred of America, but if you dig deeply you will discover that hatred is based in jealousy--they hate us because we have freedoms they will never have. Our leaders do not assume power by brute force and intimidation; our laws are not carried out tyrannically.

Yet.

Go ahead, roll your eyes. Accuse me of watching too much FoxNews. Tell me I'm an alarmist, that I put too much stock in the scare-tactic news coverage that preys on the gloom-and-doom nature of hypersensitive conservatives. Go ahead. Have your field day. And then LISTEN.

Those who TRULY study the Constitution (not just the 1st Amendment) will realize that there is a balance of power issue that is coming under fire, right under our noses, and by and large, the American populace is letting it go because the idea of the Federal Government "taking care of things" sounds really good. We *like* the idea of making sure that our air, water, land, and food are all safe. So why shouldn't we let the government legislate laws to protect it? We all want everyone in the country to be fed healthy food. We don't want children to go hungry. We don't want people to be homeless. We don't want someone to be turned away from getting health care because they don't have the ability to pay for it. It all sounds SO good. So does the idea of keeping our military out of harm's way and not "being the world's policemen". We don't want to look like bullies. We want to be liked. We don't want anyone to think we are telling them how they can live. We want everyone to be happy, to have whatever they want to make their life easy.

Or do we? Do we really realize that this ideology will eventually threaten the rights our nation's founders fought so hardly to give us? Do we not realize that the more power we give the government, the less power the American people will have IN that government?

Of course not. Because our schools aren't teaching it anymore. Elementary schools have stopped teaching America's hard-fought history of freedom in favor of "social studies", where we all learn how important the idea of being "nice" is and that we have to accept everyone no matter what they do--we don't DARE try to impose a values system on people, that's limiting their personal freedom! What we have going on in the United States right now is frightening--there are two very different fundamental ideologies at work, and we are finding ourselves very UN-united. One side holds to our country's traditional Christian-based values systems and the principles on which our country was founded; the other insists that we will be "held back" by an adherence to these values, that we need to realize we live in a changing world (never mind the change is occurring BECAUSE of the movement within the US to "evolve") and that we must alter the way we look at freedoms so we don't offend anyone or presume to set any limits at all on anyone. This latter view is becoming increasingly hostile toward the Christian values that have been historically the basis of our morality. Now "morality" is such a vague and unpopular term that many social circles are attempting to remove any reference to right and wrong entirely. Our children are being taught as young as kindergarten that the only absolute "wrong" in this world is telling someone that there are moral absolutes.

When we look at our Constitution under the microscope of vague "tolerance", clear definitions disappear. "The greater good" will rise to the top, and the individual freedoms and liberties we have enjoyed will be blurred as the government assumes a level of power that is very difficult to remove.

Why are our fundamental ideologies important? Because our freedom depends on it. And so does our ability to practice our faith openly as our Founding Fathers intended.