« Is it right to evangelize with Tsunami relief? | Main | Is God in control? »
January 20, 2005
Separation of government and religion
George Bush has done it again! He has offended a group of atheists, and probably others as well. Crosswalk.com reports that "An atheist group is criticizing President Bush for saying he can't see how
one can be president without a relationship with the Lord. Bush's comments were "divisive," they say, and an insult to those who don't believe in religious creeds or a deity."
Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists, went on to say, "Bush's interview with the Washington Times demonstrates clearly that he does not respect the diversity of the country."
What stirred this controversy were these words from President Bush:
"I fully understand that the job of the president is and must always be protecting the great right of people to worship or not worship as they see fit. That's what distinguishes us from the Taliban. The greatest freedom we have - or one of the greatest freedoms - is the right to worship the way you see fit. And on the other hand, I don't see how you can be president - atleast from my perspective, how you can be president, without a - without a relationship with the Lord."
That is quite a statement. Can you be president without the Lord? Of course you can. I am sure we have had many presidents who did not have a relationship with Christ, and I'm sure many would say they did a fine job. But I understand what President Bush was saying. The Apostle Paul once said, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." Those who have a relationship with Christ discover a power, a joy and peace, a new quality of life that others simply cannot understand. Paul also said, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Once a person has discovered the secret of new life in Christ, he is forever changed, and begins the great adventure of knowing and serving Him wherever he goes. But only a person who has discovered Christ can understand this.
I have Christ in my life. I have worked as a postal carrier, and Jesus helped me deliver mail, while I was being paid by the federal government. I have also taken Christ into the public schools while doing substitute teaching. Some may consider this illegal, but the power and life of Christ cannot be separated from me. Of course the president cannot dictate that others follow Christ. But neither can those without faith dictate to him how he lives out his life as the president. This is all a part of our freedom.
But our greatness as a nation does not come from freedom from religion. I comes from the long heritage we have as a nation built upon the practice of a Christian faith by those who believe in it.
Bill Bright related the following story:
In the 1830's, French diplomat Alexis de Tocqueville toured America in
search of the key to America's greatness. When his tour had been
completed, he made this observation: "I sought for the key to the
greatness of America in her harbors...; in her fertile fields and
boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her
public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in
her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with
righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.
America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
He continues, "The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other."
I am sure those without Christ could never understand this, but I believe it is very true.
Posted by Pastorkeith at January 20, 2005 11:34 PM