I have had a question for some time now, and have found it difficult to find clear answers in the Scriptures.\u00a0 I know there are many Old Testament accounts, but as far as a New Testament church, it seems quite muddy to me:\u00a0 Should a government legislate morality?\u00a0 I attend a church that has very distinct political beliefs and to be quite honest, it has affected my attendance because of the way I feel when I leave a Bible study.\u00a0 I believe abortion, homosexuality, greed, and adultery are sins and go against God’s will; however, being given free will from God, should a government step in when one’s conscience is lacking? \u00a0I know that murder, assault, and rape also fall under moral laws, but these acts directly affect the health and rights of others.\u00a0 It is when the acts hurt only us and our relationship with God that concerns me.\u00a0 I realize these sins, if accepted, will hurt the church as a whole, but what about living in a free society whose belief system goes against God’s will?\u00a0 Should the government step in and legislate laws that go against God and to what extent?\u00a0 Remarrying for reasons other than adultery is not acceptable to God, yet our government allows this to occur.\u00a0 Christians are not lined up on courthouse steps to stop or protest such laws, but for some reason allowing homosexuals to marry or allowing a woman to get an abortion brings them out in droves. Just how far should we Christians go?<\/p>\n\t
Let’s use your criteria that governments should only legislate morality when other people are involved. You list out murder, assault, and rape as examples of times when government should get involved. Governments don’t regulate hatred, but they do step in when that hatred is displayed in acts of violence, such as assault, battery, killings, etc. Governments don’t regulate greed, but they do step in when that greed is displayed in action, such as stealing, extortion, or Ponzi schemes. Therefore, morality is legislated, but only when it is observable.<\/p>\n
What about abortion? Is this really just a personal issue, as you indicate? Are there not multiple people involved, including the child who is being killed? The reason Christians talk about such issues and are trying to get the government to change is that innocent lives are being taken for a woman’s convenience. Here is an example of government legislating immorality and it has rightly gotten people upset.<\/p>\n
What about homosexuality? Again, it involves multiple people and really we should include fornication and adultery as well because they are all variations of sexual sins. It was just over 50 years ago that sexual sins were illegal, but the popularity of these sins has caused the government to back away. Sadly, pressure is being brought to bear on the government to create a mockery of institutions like marriage all in the name of treating sinful behavior as if it wasn’t sinful.<\/p>\n
Active sin rarely only impacts one person. People are involved, but right now due to the popularity of these sins, people are turning a blind eye to the impact these sins make in society.<\/p>\n
Yes, Christians feel they are being pushed too far and are speaking out. Isn’t that what our government promotes? Freedom of speech and freedom to disagree with the government peaceably? But regardless of the current government’s eager pursuit of popularity, Christians will continue to promote righteousness as defined by God and not man. “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ<\/em>” (Galatians 1:10). All belief systems are not the same. There is only one that comes from God and is righteous. It should be expected that churches speak out against sin and institutions that promote sin.<\/p>\n Governments, for the most part, are merely a reflection of the society they govern. Christians are focused on changing society, one person at a time, to following God. They are not directly concerned with governments because their allegiance is to the Kingdom of Christ, which doesn’t have national boundaries. “There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all<\/em>” (Colossians 3:11). However, in changing society they will change government as well.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I have had a question for some time now, and have found it difficult to find clear answers in the Scriptures.\u00a0 I know there are many Old Testament accounts, but as far as a New Testament church, it seems quite muddy to me:\u00a0 Should a government legislate morality?\u00a0 I attend a church that has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[310,38],"class_list":["post-38607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-government","tag-morality"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49178,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-believe-abortion-should-be-outlawed-or-be-easily-accessible\/","url_meta":{"origin":38607,"position":0},"title":"I don’t believe abortion should be outlawed or be easily accessible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Thanks for the site that you run. On more than one occasion I have gone there to read your responses. I wanted to follow up on the question of abortion because first, as someone who was raised as a Christian, I do believe it is wrong. I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36545,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-separation-of-church-and-state\/","url_meta":{"origin":38607,"position":1},"title":"The Separation of Church and State","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor There is an ongoing debate in our society about the \"separation of church and state.\" Though the phrase is not used in any of this country's founding documents, many understand it to be a fundamental principle upon which this nation was built. However, the debate springs from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/church-and-state-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39478,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/morality-the-government-and-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":38607,"position":2},"title":"Morality, The Government, and Christians","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Moral statements and positions will, necessarily, impact political issues. This is not because morality is inherently political, but because the government has the task of recognizing the difference between good and evil, so moral issues will have to be dealt with (Romans 13:3-4). This means that, contrary\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25957,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/its-not-politics\/","url_meta":{"origin":38607,"position":3},"title":"It’s Not Politics","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Irvin Himmel Moral statements and positions will, necessarily, impact political issues. This is not because morality is inherently political, but because the government has the task of recognizing the difference between good and evil, so moral issues will have to be dealt with (Rom 13:3-4). This means that, contrary\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31806,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-a-government-gives-false-reasons-for-going-to-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":38607,"position":4},"title":"What if a government gives false reasons for going to war?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am wondering what the Bible says concerning going to war for unjustified reasons? What if a country deceives its people and claims reasons for going to war, but there is evidence that does not justify war? How do Christians and Christians in the military handle this type of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7736,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-think-the-american-government-would-be-better-run-by-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":38607,"position":5},"title":"Do you think the American government would be better run by Christians?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you think the American government would be better run by Christians? Do you agree with the separation of church and state? Answer: Those claiming to be followers of Christ generally hold to a higher moral standard than those who reject Christianity. Since the government is involved in ideas,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}