God’s Laws, Government’s Laws and Christianity – Part 1 of 3

Part 1 of 3

In these next posts I put to you three, of probably many, questions to consider around the contentious issue of governments making laws, and I discuss my thoughts around these questions. The first is, “Which of God’s laws should a government include in their list?” The framework for my consideration is Christian, where I consider God’s thoughts as supreme and best to follow. Secondly, in order to answer the first question, I ask, “What is a government’s mandate and jurisdiction?” Then finally, “Which of God’s laws should Christians be vocal about?”

Which of God’s laws a government should or shouldn’t legislate has to do with the mandate and jurisdiction of government. Some say that the government shouldn’t legislate on issues of morality. Obviously, such a blanket statement is absurd, what with possibilities of pedophilia, theft, murder, etc. Others say that adult consent is enough to decide whether something can be tolerated or not as long as it is not affecting anyone else. This, I’m afraid is a naïve idea of mankind, not realizing that everyone, especially the youth, is easily influenced both for good and for bad through witnessing peoples’ choices and behavior.

Pornography, homosexuality and adultery are examples of what has become rife because people influence people. And, when legalized, immorality grows even more rapidly. For example, the permitting of abortion has shaped society so much, that what was once outlawed, seen to be morally wrong and supported only by a minority, now has the U.S. divided down the middle. What is wrong is being called right, and worse, because it has been legalized, it has been established as right for our future generations.  In a democratic country, legislation is swayed by the morality of its people. This does not mean that democracy is wrong, but rather that over time our laws reflect who we are.

(Interesting Article: Abortion Statistics and Trends… Out of the Long Dark Night by Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D. NRL-ETF Director of Education & Research)

Rob Morley