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Where Should Christianity and Government Intersect?

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

It seems that, in today’s so-called “tolerant” society, the one thing that cannot be tolerated is Christianity. For example, children are punished in government schools if they say a prayer before a meal or include a cross in one of their drawings.  A recent book, Persecution, by David Limbaugh, provides extensive examples of the persecution Christians face in the U.S. today, often in the name of “tolerance”.   I would like to suggest two reasons for this phenomenon:  First, many people want to live according to their own rules, do their own thing, and not be measured against any absolute standards or absolute truth; since Christianity supports absolute standards, it makes these people uncomfortable.  Second, Christians themselves frequently do not act in accordance with Christ’s teachings, often provoking an anti-Christian backlash.  For example, some people today who call themselves Christians are lobbying to make vices illegal and thus punishable by force;  this causes many people to fear Christians and to mobilize political opposition to them.  While we cannot do much about the first basis for persecuting Christians, we might give further consideration to the second basis.

Turn Neither to the Right Nor to the Left – A Thinking Christian’s Guide to Politics and Public Policy, by D. Eric Schansberg, undertakes an analysis that deals with this second basis for anti-Christian backlash, asking what approach Christians properly should take toward politics.  Schansberg is an economics professor at Indiana University Southeast and a Christian, who considers the Bible to be authoritative.  Schansberg says that both the “Religious Left” and the “Religious Right” have failed to develop a well-reasoned political philosophy and have failed to act in accordance with “God’s character and Christ’s ministry.” 

While both the Religious Left and the Religious Right claim to be using government force to promote virtue, Schansberg cautions against religious people idolizing and putting their faith in people (government) rather than in God, and he points out that, “By preventing, punishing, subsidizing, or mandating behaviors, government necessarily reduces or eliminates the virtue and morality behind those decisions…[and] reduces the vitality of other institutions that are typically responsible for promoting virtue, most notably the church – whether in helping the poor or ministering to ‘sinners’….In sum, restricting freedom is not typically consistent with promoting virtue.”

Schansberg distinguishes between “morality” and “justice” activism in the political arena.  He uses the term “legislating morality” to refer to efforts “to regulate and restrict consensual but sinful acts between two adults in which no significant, direct costs are imposed on others”, such as sex outside of marriage and drug use.  He uses the term “legislating justice” for issues “in which someone’s rights are directly and significantly violated”, such as murder, rape, and theft, where one party uses force to directly harm another.  He also distinguishes between those situations in which the government allows people to sin and those in which it forces people to sin.  He reminds his readers that calling on the government to enforce morality means using coercion, raising the question:  “Is coercion appropriate and practical for Christians to use on non-Christians to enforce social morality goals?... and “in what contexts should we seek to put our neighbors in jail?”

Schansberg says that Christians “worship a God who is concerned with freedom over virtually everything else.  To note, He gave us a free will…[which] allows us to develop character and other attributes God wants His children to have.” He points out that the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is a good example of God’s allowing people to sin and says that “there can be no moral choices without the freedom to choose.” 

Looking at Christ’s example, Schansberg notes, “He encouraged – and allowed rather than forced – people to change.”  In the case of the woman caught in adultery, Christ said, “If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  And later, after the accusers left, Christ said to the woman, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  Schansberg says, “Unlike today’s stereotypical religious conservatives, instead of attacking the heathen, Christ was famous for being with them – the Samaritan, the tax collector, the prostitute.  Unlike today’s stereotypical religious liberals, he didn’t stop at merely interacting with them; he said what needed to be said.  In sum, he was remarkably accepting of them, but not their behavior….His interactions were less accusatory than promoting introspection.”  Thus, based on both the Old Testament and the New Testament, Schansberg concludes that Christians should not seek to legislate morality.

In addition, Schansberg takes a practical approach to the question, considering the numerous costs of legislating morality.  For example, legislating morality encourages judgmentalism and self-righteousness in the Christian community, creating a stumbling block that prevents unbelievers from being attracted to Christ.  Also, a focus on works and on legalisms rather than on grace often prevents people from looking deeper. Also, if Christians spend their time lobbying for laws to outlaw vices, they cannot devote that time to “building relationships with neighbors and helping the needy” or to improving themselves.  While it can be difficult and painful to see people “chasing false gods”, Schansberg says we need to remember that “false gods always fail and that the subsequent crises are often how God reaches people.”  So, by forcibly preventing people from chasing their false gods, Christians may be preventing God from reaching them.  Schansberg asks, “how is legislation useful for ministering to those who need Christ?  With the force of law, there can only be an identification of the sin and a rigidly prescribed punishment.  It is impossible to communicate love along with truth using that tool.” 

So, should Christians be promoting laws against nude dancing, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, adultery, and drugs, in order to put “sinners” in jail?  Or, should they be living in accordance with their beliefs, treating all people with respect, and teaching by example the many benefits of living a Christian life?

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