Do you think the American government would be better run by Christians? Do you agree with the separation of church and state?<\/p>\n\t
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, such as justice between individuals, society benefits when people with strong ethics are involved in government.<\/p>\n
The American government was founded upon the idea the people cannot do as they please. In the Declaration of Independence is the statement: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Thus the founders believed that human rights came from God.<\/p>\n
Where I would disagree with the founders is the idea that government’s power comes from the people governed. The Bible states: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God<\/em>” (Romans 13:1). That view affects my view of government. I’m am quite willing to follow a government that stays within its boundaries, but when it treads in areas for which it has no authority, I will choose to follow God and ignore the government. For example, the early apostles were told by the ruling authority to stop preaching about Christ. Their response was, “We ought to obey God rather than men<\/em>” (Acts 5:29). Government is subservient to God, whether it acknowledges it or not.<\/p>\n If by “separation of church and state” you mean as Jefferson did that government is to keep its nose out of religion, not dictate what should or should not be done in the worship of God, and not create a state religion, then yes I believe that should be the case. But if you mean it as people do today that government should be hostile toward religion, actively seeking to remove all trace of religious influence from itself and those it governs, then no I don’t agree because then government becomes an official sponsor of atheism, which is what we currently have today. I see it as a one-way street. Religion ought to influence the government, but the government ought not to influence religion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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, such as justice between individuals,…<\/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],"class_list":["post-7736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-government"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21761,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-a-marriage-license-mean-the-government-controls-marriages\/","url_meta":{"origin":7736,"position":0},"title":"Doesn’t a marriage license mean the government controls marriages?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You said: \"They imagine all sorts of nonsense regarding giving up rights, but the reality is that the government is serving as a repository of the covenant.\" License is a prior restraint. It presumes that the activity is not a right but stems from the licensor (government in this\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":52806,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-christians-be-involved-in-government\/","url_meta":{"origin":7736,"position":1},"title":"Can Christians be involved in government?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear sir, I trust this email finds you well. I'd like to ask a question. I've been trying to learn from the biblical point of view if a Christian can participate in politics. Do we have brothers and sisters in the faith who are actively participating in politics? Thanks,\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":1300,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-we-do-when-the-government-is-involved-in-our-child-rearing\/","url_meta":{"origin":7736,"position":2},"title":"What do we do when the government is involved in our child rearing?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What do we when outside government authorities are involved in our child raising? \u00a0 Answer: This becomes a difficult question to answer well because much depends on the reason the government has seen fit to interfere. The best that I can do is answer in general and hope that\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":45770,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-hold-us-responsible-when-we-pay-taxes-to-a-government-that-uses-the-money-for-sinful-purposes-such-as-funding-abortions\/","url_meta":{"origin":7736,"position":3},"title":"Does God hold us responsible when we pay taxes to a government that uses the money for sinful purposes, such as funding abortions?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I live in a State where Medicare covers abortions. Since our taxes pay for Medicare, will God hold us responsible for this? We are told in the Bible to pay taxes, but as citizens, we don't have control over how the money is spent. Thank you for your reply.\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":7556,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-tell-you-about-a-way-to-get-married-without-government-involvement\/","url_meta":{"origin":7736,"position":4},"title":"Can I tell you about a way to get married without government involvement?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I noticed a guy wrote\u00a0a piece about marriage claiming he didn't need a piece of paper. He is right by all means; all you need is two witnesses and you can be married by American law. But if you do get a marriage license, you put your kids under\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":34890,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-think-the-government-is-corrupt-so-can-i-get-married-without-the-government-being-involved\/","url_meta":{"origin":7736,"position":5},"title":"I think the government is corrupt, so can I get married without the government being involved?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, My girlfriend and I would like to marry outside of the state due to the condition of the corruption and anti-God position of the government and states. 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