Values Voting

“Values Voting”

Introduction

Two subjects illicit more heated discussions than any other; religion / politics. Today religions get a pass in our culture, Christianity does not. It seems there is an all-out war on Christianity; especially evangelical beliefs. There is even an organization dedicated to eradicating God out of government. I am going to talk about both Christianity and politics because the Bible addresses both. The bible has a great deal to say about politics and government.

In our present culture of eradicating God from government Christians have been discouraged from participation in politics. The removal of morals and principles in government lead to the current attitudes toward politicians now prevalent in our culture. Unchecked power corrupts.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Our early founders recognized no separation between God and government. Just a cursory glance at some of the original documents quickly reveals that Christianity was very much part of the lives of the founders as well as their governing.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

"The highest glory of the American Revolution was that it connected the principles of Christianity with the principles of government."

John Quincy Adams

"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure (and) which insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence

"If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity."

Daniel Webster

"It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains." Patrick Henry

"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants." William Penn

"We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us." Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation

"Finally, let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its light, and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society, and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, political, or literary." Daniel Webster

"In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed....No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people." Noah Webster

Some even advocated electing only Christians. In spite of the current claims, this nation was firmly founded on Christian principles. The founding fathers established freedom of religion not freedom from religion right alongside of freedom of speech. They did not advocate any such thing as separation of church and state. That misinterpreted and misapplied statement has been passed on as part of the constitution. It can be found nowhere in the constitution or the bill of rights. The framers clearly prohibited the government from establishing a state religion to which all must subscribe. The “separation” phrase was picked out of context from a letter by Thomas Jefferson to a Baptist church assuring them that the government was prohibited by the constitution from establishing a state church. In the very document used to remove the church’s influence on Government it is clear that the amendment was added to protect the church from government influence NOT to prohibit the church from influencing the government.

Such belief can be clearly demonstrated as indicated by the many quotes from the ones who actually drafted and signed it. The Government was the first to print and distribute Bibles in the United States. The founding fathers copiously quoted the Scriptures in their writings and speeches. They quoted the Bible or those quoting the Bible more than any other source.

My intent today is to encourage Christian influence in government and the political debate.

The Bible’s influence on our development as a nation and those who founded it is indisputable. First we must be clear that we serve a sovereign God. That means, our God rules over and superintends ALL the affairs of men. God will hold both individuals and nations accountable for their actions.