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Theopolitics in a post-modern America

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We must understand as Christians that faith and politics DO mix, that the one has a direct bearing on the other. Why do I say that at the beginning of this article? Because many secularists, and many Christians as well, claim that because of the non-existent separation of Church and State posits a cultural divide that excludes the moral foundation of Christianity to be an active partner of our governing processes. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It is of note that the Constitution forbids government to establish a State religion, but protects the rights of the individual to practice his religion, and to exercise his or her moral conscience in affairs of state and governance.

This concept of “establishment and practice” is the crux of what the liberal, secular and humanist components of society deem as the foundational principle of separation of Church and State. They reject that there is a substantive difference between the two. However, to practice your faith does not necessitate that you are foisting your beliefs on others by political fiat. It simply means you have a right to what you believe and act accordingly, as long as you are not violating another’s rights to those selfsame freedoms..

How does this apply to Theopolitics? Mainly that in the embracing the principles and teachings of your faith, you should live your life and reflect that faith in your societal interactions. We have a diverse culture here in America, precisely because of that reflection of personal values in day to day society. What you truly believe in is what you respond from, and therefore society as a whole reflects the beliefs of it’s many member citizens.

So at a very basic level, we should always respond as Christians in all things, especially the governance of the country in which we live. Otherwise, it’s like living in a house with all your family and letting everyone else make decisions about what you should wear, when you should get up or go to bed, where you should work, who you should marry, etc. It’s not about imposing your will on others, it about taking responsibility for your own life and your own place in society as a whole.

Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.
John Quincy Adams

If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made not for the public good so much as for the selfish or local purposes.
–Daniel Webster

The preceding quotes give an insight to what happens when we allow the inmates to run the asylum. Total unprincipled chaos of benefit to no one except the inmates themselves. When we allow self-serving sycophants (a servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people) to gain the reins of government, we have let the fox into the hen house, and they WIIL pillage and plunder, it is their nature. Some Christians believe they shouldn’t vote their faith. Some politicians say they can’t vote their conscience, or faith, because in doing so they somehow are imposing their beliefs on others. But the point is to be a person of character, that shapes society by those beliefs, because it is those beliefs (or should be) that got you the votes in the first place. If the people don’t like what you believe in, they simply won’t vote for you in the first place. Simple and democratic and the basis of a free society.

When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God. The preservation of a republican government [a democracy] depends on the faithful discharge of this duty.
–Noah Webster

Our citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament, or the Christian religion.
–Noah Webster

That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.
–Thomas Jefferson

So how can we separate ourselves from our moral center and still believe we have done the best that we can for ourselves, for our government and for our prosperity? If you separate yourself from the heart of what you believe, then that belief will die. In you, in society and in governance. So you must be part of the process AS a Christian, as well as a citizen. The two are mutual inclusive. That is the essence of Theopolitics, not the derogatory appellation that liberals force on people of faith. Like the label right-wing extremists, it is a term coined to condescend and mark the enemy.

Understand also that Theopolitics simply is a conjunction of the word theo (god) and politics (…that part of ethics which has to do with the regulation and government of a nation or state, the preservation of its safety, peace, and prosperity, the defense of its existence and rights against foreign control or conquest, the augmentation of its strength and resources, and the protection of its citizens in their rights, with the preservation and improvement of their morals. —Websters). So you see that moral character of society is inherent in the governance of that society. Any religion could be considered theopolitical if it is used to determine the moral character of society. And Human Secularism is just that religion. And by default, is gaining ground as the de facto STATE RELIGION.

Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual—or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.
–Samuel Adams

If you can’t vote, or be politically active in your faith, by your own decision, then you have no faith. You have no conviction upon which to stand. Christianity is not what you do, it is who you are. If you can’t see this, then you must first address your faith before you can address society around you. You must first understand upon WHAT you stand, before you are able to MAKE a stand. This is a principle that the aforementioned Humanist Secularists understand well.

What is a Humanist Secularist? Well the dictionary defines a humanist as “of or pertaining to a philosophy asserting human dignity and man’s capacity for fulfillment through reason and scientific method and often rejecting religion” and a secularist is defined as, “One who theoretically rejects every form of religious faith, and every kind of religious worship, and accepts only the facts and influences which are derived from the present life; also, one who believes that education and other matters of civil policy should be managed without the introduction of a religious element.”

And this self proclaimed non-religious element of society is rapidly making inroads (and have for decades) into every level and aspect of civil society, to the exclusion of all mention or practice of faith, especially Christian faith. In doing this they have established a religion of non-religion and violated the true meaning of our civil government not to establish a state religion.

If the people fail to vote, a government will be developed which is not their government… The whole system of American Government rests on the ballot box. Unless citizens perform their duties there, such a system of government is doomed to failure.
–Calvin Coolidge

We do not need more intellectual power, we need more moral power. We do not need more knowledge, we need more character. We do not need more government, we need more culture. We do not need more law, we need more religion. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen. If the foundation be firm, the foundation will stand.
–Calvin Coolidge

In order to accomplish this theopolitical coup, we are constantly told that, in effect, it is the separation of Church and State that dictates the absence of faith in the halls of government. This is a complete lie. But Christians and non-Christians are buying into this false premise. One day, like President Coolidge reminds us, we will wake up to a closed society and a “system of government (that) is doomed to failure”,

“It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual.
–Thomas Jefferson

If we do not apply our Christian walk to ALL aspects of our lives, then we are living a lie. We are lying that we are truly Christian, and that our faith matters. Why? Because we are not then living by the tenets of our convictions. And in essence it becomes no conviction at all. And in doing so over and over again, it becomes easier and easier to capitulate our moral foundation to the expediency of the worldly and a pervasive culture of secularism.

We must build a society that is based upon the principles which we hold dear. We are not trying to instill our faith upon others, but be true to that faith ourselves. If our lives are based upon a faith that recognizes Jesus Christ as the cornerstone, how can we in good conscience build a society that is not. We must be who we are, and act accordingly.

I leave you with the words of these good men of character:

All [laws], however, may be arranged in two different classes. 1) Divine. 2) Human. . . . But it should always be remembered that this law, natural or revealed, made for men or for nations, flows from the same Divine source: it is the law of God. . . . Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine.
— James Wilson, Signer of the Constitution; U. S. Supreme Court Justice

The law . . . dictated by God Himself is, of course, superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times. No human laws are of any validity if contrary to this.
— Alexander Hamilton, Signer of the Constitution

The . . . law established by the Creator . . . extends over the whole globe, is everywhere and at all times binding upon mankind. . . . [This] is the law of God by which he makes his way known to man and is paramount to all human control.
— Rufus King, Signer of the Constitution

Be blessed, be loved and be at peace,

Jonathan


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