We respect a healthy separation between religion and government. Scripture and early-church teachings indicate Christianity was never supposed to be about forcing beliefs on anyone by way of taking over government and enforcing Biblical principles or belief. The United States was founded on freedom of religion and is a free, secular Republic to be kept void of religious tyranny. This is not to say, however, as some do, that spiritual beliefs, morals and Biblical values do not have a place in our political system, because we the people make up that system, and millions look to the Bible as a source for moral authority. Thus, our spiritual and Biblical basis as Christians are a foundation for our personal values, which informs our actions, and those actions translate into voting, and legislative action and worldviews. Values and legislation should not be confused with personal spirituality and belief, which has no place in public government debate. We do not want nor should we have a government that is “big” enough to want to regulate our spiritual lives!

Freedom to believe and live as we choose is a basic God-given right

Our most fundamental right as a human being is that of freewill. From the beginning our Creator gave us this decision-making power. If we allow the legislation of “sin” in this country, which many have done and are actively doing now, where does that lead us? Eventually it would lead us straight back into the middle-ages with a Church dictatorship and witch hunts trials! And whose “version of sin” should we legislate? Some believe homosexuality is sin, others believe drinking alcohol or seeing an R-rated movie is sin, so whose definition is sinful? Scripture deals with this issue very clearly for Christians in Romans 14 (see below), allowing freedom to work out our own salvation with a clear directive not to judge the actions and beliefs of others who may not believe the same about a certain idea of what is/isn’t “sin.”. But never did the disciples or Jesus try to enforce his teachings and their beliefs on sin through the government – it is actually against New Testament values to do so, as Jesus himself separated the role of government and role of the church with the statement “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and God’s what is God’s (Matthew 22:15-22).” However, there is a healthy amount of directive in both Old and New Testaments on what our view and actions should be for the poor, the vulnerable, sick…the least of these. This is a directive that is actionable, a stand for freedom for all and justice for the innocent. The early church was full of women and others who had no authority previously, but then were given a voice and church activities that include doing everything possible to help those in need and see that those in power carried out social justice. So in this way, our beliefs and directives are not separate from our government action…nor should they be.

Romans 14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.