Which God Saves? → government

How do religion, society and the government fit together?

How do religion and society fit together? Should religion and society fit together? And if those weren’t already tough enough questions, who gets to decide the answers? Religious leaders? Social activists? The government? But hang on a minute. Just when it seems like it can’t possibly get worse, it does. What if religion, everything related to society in general, and the government are all controlled by the same people?

Do you think that’s impossible? It’s not. It’s happening. Right now. In China, they’re well on their way to making it happen. The Communist Party is continuing to strengthen its hold on pretty much everything about official religion and Chinese society. Here in the U.S., many would like it to happen. Who exactly will be in control isn’t officially decided yet. But it appears that the government is winning, with Christians bowing down to the President.

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Religion and the law. Are we protecting laws from religion?

Politics and religion

Protecting laws from religion? Management of religious affairs is about protecting what is lawful. That last sentence is the English translation of something from China’s Religious Affairs Regulations. But does that even make sense? China claims their citizens have freedom of religious belief. So shouldn’t laws about religion be concerned with protecting those religions?

What’s this thing about protecting the law from religion? It sounds so backwards. And yet, is it even unusual? We claim to have religious freedom in the U.S. So do many countries. But are we really doing anything different than China? In other words, is the real issue that China isn’t hiding what they’re doing? Let’s find out.

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Should Christians be concerned about healthcare for the poor?

Politics and religion

Should Christians be concerned about healthcare for the poor? Of course, the answer is yes. Isn’t it? In theory, it’s hard to argue against the idea. However, in practice, it’s apparently very easy to just ignore it. Does that sound familiar? If you’re Christian, it should resonate, loud and clear. Even if you’re not Christian, chances are you know something about “the good Samaritan”. Even if you don’t know where it came from, that concept is known by all sorts of people.

So let’s look at the question of healthcare for the poor in that light. We’ll see what Jesus says on the topic. After all, Jesus was the One who first put forth the idea of the good Samaritan. And then we’ll see what happens today. How we went from what Jesus taught, to a scenario where that’s pretty much impossible for all but the extremely wealthy people in the world, and how too many Christians have done the unneighborly thing by, well, by doing what we do. We’ll look at that in a moment.

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Is the Hong Kong Security Law the end of Christianity in Hong Kong?

Religion in Hong Kong

Are we at the beginning of the end of Christianity in Hong Kong? A while back, I started to write about new religious regulations in China. Mainland China, with the atheist Communist government. But it got side-tracked by everything else going on in the world and here in the U.S. However, I think it’s time to not only bring it back, but to emphasize it even more. The new Hong Kong Security Law makes it imperative.

When I began to write about the Chinese religious regulations, I pointed out that they are essentially a blueprint for other countries to follow. Well, China may very well be following them, although in a somewhat hidden fashion, with the Hong Kong Security Law. Given the “one world religion” foretold in the Bible, I expect this kind of thing to spread literally world-wide. That’s why it’s so important for us – Christians – to understand.

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Don’t be misled. Trump shouldn’t decide when churches will open.

Politics and religion

Trump shouldn’t decide when churches open! You may have seen the headline from CNBC, or something like it: Trump slams governors, demands they open houses of worship ‘right now’. But you know what? It’s not up to the governors to decide when churches open either. I’ve often argued that separation of church and state – if done correctly – is a good thing. The government should not dictate religion. If we learned anything from history, it should have been that many people came to “the new world” – eventually much of it to become the U.S. – to avoid the royal version of religion back in Europe. But we haven’t really learned much, have we?

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Who loves you? The Government or God?

Politics and religion

Who loves you? The government or God? Does that seem like a dumb question? Honestly, it did to me. As soon as I typed it and saw it on the screen. It’s like, why do I even have to ask that question? But I do. It’s a question that apparently needs to be asked over and over again.

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street sign - corner of religion and politics

Religion and Government – their impact on our salvation

Politics and religion

Religion and Government – their impact on our salvation. I wrote this about two and a half years ago. It’s amazing how much things have changed in that short time. It look at different forms of government, with different combinations of intertwining between government and religion.

But now, here in the U.S., it’s getting really hard to tell which one we are anymore. Less and less a democracy – and more and more a weird kind of theocracy / dictatorship combination. It’s scary. Not just for what its doing to our country, but also to our salvation. Especially those who are pushing and supporting the strange and unBiblical alliances being set up here.

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Do not be afraid. Unless I hate you?

Politics and religion

Do you know what “Do not be afraid” is supposed to mean to Christians? And if you’re a “Trump” Christian, do you understand the significance of adding “unless I hate you”? Christian or not, I’ll tell you, there’s no place in the Bible where you’ll find “unless I hate you” said in the same sentence as “do not be afraid”. So why do some Christians insist on hating?

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What is freedom of religion?

Religious regulations in China

What is freedom of religion? It depends. Who gets to define freedom? And who defines religion? Maybe even who defines “of”. We’re looking at China in this series, but the same issues come up everywhere. It’s all about who sets the rules. One thing we can be sure of – it’s not God. Not in China. And not in my country or yours either.

Here’s the thing about freedom – of religion or of anything. See that eagle flying around in the sky? That eagle is free. But he’s probably looking for someone to eat. Something alive. And when the eagle finds his target, a little bit of freedom is lost. A life is gone. And the eagle remains free.

With people, freedom of religion is kind of like that. Someone’s “flying around” above us. Someone who either doesn’t like our religion, or likes theirs better. Sometimes they hate our religion so much they want to kill it. If they’re strong enough – they can certainly take out individual people. Even any given church building. But can they destroy an entire religion?

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Freedom of Religious Belief versus Social Harmony

Religious regulations in China

Is it possible to have “freedom of religious belief” and maintain social harmony? Sounds difficult, doesn’t it. Experience tells us it’s pretty much impossible. Does it have to be this way? Or are there things outside of religion that make it so difficult?

Is it even worse when governments get involved and laws are created? And does it get even worse when the laws are created to enforce “harmony”?

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