Faith and Politics

Even as recently as a year ago, I considered myself "not political." What that really meant is that I couldn't handle debate. I couldn't handle the idea of arguing with anyone in my life or even strangers. A couple things in my life have changed that. 

Spurred on by my interest in the 2012 election, I virtually never listen to music anymore - I spend most days listening to talk radio. This had led to knowledge and knowledge has led to confidence. 

Another change came from the controversy over "Tebowing." When I say that Tim Tebow changed my life, that may sound odd to a lot of you, but it's very true. What "Tebowing" did was provoke a lot of thought and self-reflection. How often did I discuss my faith or things impacted by my faith (which is everything) in a public arena? Practically never, unless I knew people would agree with me. I had bought into the whole idea that my beliefs should be kept personal, and I shouldn't share what anyone else might find offensive. Now, if you had asked me outright if I believed that, I would have wholeheartedly said no. But, I lived that way, and I think a lot of Christians do. 

People want to claim "separation of church and state" and tell us to keep our views to ourselves. I think some people actually believe that is in the constitution. What actually IS in the constitution is "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."  This country was founded by people who wanted freedom to practice their religion, not people who wanted to suppress anyone's right to practice theirs in public.


Here is an example:
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/firefighters-prayer-center-of-religious-debate-20120424

The cross being there does not violate anyone's rights. It does not violate the constitution, because it does not force anyone to believe in God, or practice a faith they do not believe in. It's existence does not mean that the local government favors Christianity over any other religion, nor has there been any evidence of that. If people don't believe in the Christian faith, then why does it bother them so much to see people practice it, or even just symbols of it? 

There is a lot of bullying in the media towards Christianity. We're supposed to keep our faith private - we're not supposed to "force" it on anyone else. The problem with that, is that Christianity is not a "religion." It's an entire way of life and effects every single decision a person makes, no matter how minute. Jesus would never shy away from controversy - that is crystal clear in the Bible. And Christians are called to "make believers of all nations." We should be proclaiming our faith in all arenas as often as possible. Just like Tim Tebow. He prays when he wants to thank God for his success, and this has somehow become something to be made fun of on almost every talk show on tv. There should be Christian outrage, but I haven't heard a lot of it. A cross on a lawn is considered highly offensive, but someone making fun of a man's communication with his Savior is perfectly acceptable. It's shameful.

I want to start off this blog by saying that I will not let anyone pressure me to keep my faith out of politics. My faith is the whole reason I am interested in politics. In fact - I will strive to interject my faith into my political views as often as possible.