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Blogs by Marty Jones
Separation of Church and State
11/17/2003 1:04:41 PM
The debate continues, but is anyone asking the proper question?
Once more my email includes commentary regarding the need for "Christians to stand up and be counted," so that the name of God won't be removed from our currency, the Pledge of Allegiance, or statuary on courthouse steps. To my mind, such pleas avoid the real question: why the furor?
Being a Christian, I am generally supportive of retaining the name of God on our currency, in our schools, etc. Christ is the center of my life; and has been for 30 of my 51 years. Whether or not the name of God is included on our currency, He will still be present in my heart and my mind. And as Ronald Reagan remarked, we will never take prayer out of schools as long as there are exams.
Rather than 'standing up to be counted,' I think it's more important for the Church to ask itself why the name of God is so offensive to nonbelievers. We live in a democratic republic; if our government worked as it was designed, and if 51% of the populace voted for removing the name of God from all forms of government symbolism, then this would be the will of the people, and the correct thing to do; under our present form of government.
Paul told us to live our lives in such a manner that non-Christians would be envious of our freedom; yet it appears that most of us have lived our lives in such a manner that all we have created is animosity. Our form of government will remain, whether or not the name of God is included on our currency and in our Pledge. God will remain, even if there is no one on earth who believes in Him. There are some Christians who believe that God will no longer 'bless our land' if we remove His name from the symbols of our country. If those who so believe take an honest look at our country, I think they will question whether or not God has already removed His blessing from us.
So what is needed in order to stem the tide of animosity? I wish I knew. In my young adult years, prior to my encountering God, I 'ran' from Christians and their preaching; not really understanding why I ran. I stopped running when I met Christians who cared about me more than they did their preaching.
Jesus told His followers to 'give to Caesar that which was his'- the coin with his likeness stamped upon it; but to give to God what was His due. In Micah we are told, "He has shown you, Oh man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God."
Apparently we haven't been so doing.
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More Blogs by Marty Jones
• Separation of Church and State - Monday, November 17, 2003
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