Inter Alia

Politics, Science, and Faith. Three topics...three little words. Yet they sponsor controversy and cynisim; adherence to ideals for their own sake; positions beyond reproach.

I have been working over the past several weeks on an entry on M-theory (the "mother" of all theories that seeks to establish a Theory of Everything for physicists) and faith. However, during the course of study and compilation, I've come across many a secular view that shows ignorance, to put it frankly, on the part of many "secular" people about what it means to be Christian, what it means to have faith, and what the roles of both those ideas are in daily life.

Take, for example, the recent battle about the ten commandments and whether it is ok to have them on public grounds. The Supreme Court ruled recently that it is ok to have them there, but they can't be in the court room. An attorney and pastor for the Church of Christ, Barry Lynn, said, "No one expects politicians and policy-makers to divorce themselves entirely from the roots of their belief system, but in the United States, our laws have to be based on secular justifications."

Since when? The American system of jurisprudence is common-law based. It is based on the English common law system...which cannot be divorced from its Biblical roots. Whether it is right or not, I find it impossible to argue that our laws historically lack grounding in Christian ideals. That said, many I assume would argue that even if we once were religiously inclined as a nation, that should end. Church and state should be separate institutions. I would have to say that I agree...only because my current "secular" government disgusts me. Even still, it saddens and disheartens me that we are steering so far away from what Christ called the spirit of the law. However, I suppose it is inevitable in the great scheme of life. The Bible has a lot to say about the downturn of men in the end of times; I just wish it wasn't America leading the way.

In the mean time, I wish that Christians would not focus on divisive schemes in politics...playing the games politicians play. It doesn't seem to me that is the place to win any battle, much less the war. Governments are, perhaps inherently and most unfortunately, secular. Fight for the things that really matter, such as continuing ability to pray in school (I must note that it is a common misconception that we are not allowed to pray in school - we are). The law might permit abortions, but a girl will never have to make that choice if she hears God's word from the beginning. Remember that our role as Christians is to spread the gospel, and lead all who would hear to Christ. Remember that he said the greatest commandment is to love. Do not judge someone when you learn his sins, no matter how great. We are all tainted in God's eyes.

The thing is, secularists (I use the word broadly) are afraid of Christians, and hence uninformed about what it means to be a Christians, because as a group we have not sent the message properly. We do not live as we should, we do not speak as we should, and we do not listen as we should. Instead of sitting down and explaining the intimate dynamics of a relationship with God, we shout and condemn a sinner for his sins. Remember to remove the spec from your own eye first. Many conservative Christians, instead of going to prisons and getting to the heart of the criminal, sponsor politicians who would build more prisons, which does absolutely no good.

This entry was slightly long and rambly, but I wrote it to say this: faith is not religion. Faith is the anti-religion. Faith gets to the heart of what it means to be human - the ability to know God. Faith is not "a willingness to accept belief in things for which we have no evidence", it is the ability to see and the willingness to accept what is already before us. It is the duty of a Christian to teach this idea through the Bible. However, when the secular of the world make statements like the one above (read more here: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1119875749550), then we are failing.