Back
to Article List
Shepherds, or Judas Goats?
The “Christian Right” Leads America into Bondage
by Phil Fernandes, Ph.D.
Christianity has a long tradition of courageous leaders who stood against the powers that be, defending what is right. The great saints of the early church refused to deny Christ and suffered persecution and martyrdom for their beliefs. In the Old Testament, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to compromise their faith. Samuel the prophet condemned the disobedience of King Saul when he refused God's command to wipe out the Amalekites. Nathan the prophet confronted King David for his sins of adultery and murder, and John the Baptist suffered and died for exposing the adultery of King Herod. God has always called his people to speak with a prophetic voice and condemn the sins of those in power and stand up for what is right.
Unfortunately, in America, the Church has lost her prophetic voice. Instead of taking a stand for freedom and righteousness, American Christian leaders have blindly supported the Republican Party line. Evangelical leaders are too intoxicated with the lust for political power to oppose the Republican Party when her actions and views are unconstitutional or unbiblical. Instead of being the conscience of the Republican Party and of our nation, Christian leaders have blindly followed the dictates of a political party that attempts to spread “American ideals” throughout the globe via military might and preemptive war. These leaders look the other way as the Republican Party continually increases the size of Federal government and, in the name of security, builds a police state (i.e., Big Brother), exchanging liberty for security, something our Founding Fathers refused to do.
This is not to say that the Democratic Party has the answers. It does not. Political liberals in this country also regularly fight to enlarge the size of government; but, in this case, it is done to accomplish immoral goals (i.e., the “new morality”). This is seen in the gay rights agenda and pro-abortion movement. In response, so-called Christian conservatives, through the Republican Party, attempt to enlarge the size of the United States government in order to accomplish “righteous” goals. Unfortunately, doing the unconstitutional thing by enlarging the size of the Federal government is never the right choice. When we enlarge the size of government, whether for “good” or evil, we lose in the end, for God intended human government to be limited in its power. His will is that human governments serve the people by protecting their God-given, unalienable rights. He did not institute human government to enslave the people and control every aspect of their lives.
The Founding Fathers had a biblical view of government and morality; they did their homework. Rather than responding with knee-jerk reactions to the issues, our Founding Fathers thought through their philosophy of government before responding to individual issues. They anticipated Lord Acton's timeless maxim, “power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Hence, they established a system of separation of powers and checks and balances so that no branch of the Federal government would have absolute power.
On the other hand, today’s Christian leaders are constitutionally illiterate at best, and at worst constitutionally indifferent in their zeal for power. They often try to use the Federal government to enforce “Christian” morality in areas which the government has no business meddling. They also allow the government to usurp the responsibilities of the church (i.e., feed the hungry, shelter the poor, care for the sick, etc.). This creates a welfare state through the communistic redistribution of wealth. Republican politicians increase federal spending on education just as quickly as Democrats do. This is despite the fact that the Federal government has no constitutional authority to control education.
The American church has confused political power for spiritual power. Evangelical leaders apparently believe that most problems can be solved at the Federal level. This is worship of the state. It is the antithesis of freedom, since political freedom is the freedom to govern oneself. Rather than faith in God and a focus on individual rights, Evangelical leaders endorse politicians who erode the sovereignty of the United States and move us towards a global state.
The vast majority of Evangelical leaders are not constitutionalists. Tragically, they either subscribe to the statist, militarist ideology called “neo-conservatism,” or they are in thrall to the neo-cons. They believe the best way to defeat big evil government is through big “good” government. But, as our Founding Fathers have warned us, there is no such thing as a big government that is good. Big government kills and enslaves—it does not protect our God-given rights. Evangelicals are more likely to vote for a fascist or a socialist who professes faith in Christ than vote for a true constitutionalist like Ron Paul. Evangelicals profess to believe that man is fallen and sinful; however, Evangelicals believe that our leaders (who are fallen and sinful) can be trusted with absolute power – as long as those leaders pay cheap lip service to “conservative” social concerns, and maintain a public facade of piety.
In fact, many Evangelical leaders are so focused on obtaining and retaining power that they've abandoned any pretense of holding leaders accountable to biblical standards of conduct. Neo-con serial adulterer Newt Gingrich, an individual of New Age views who displays little if any respect for the Bible, is welcome at every significant gathering of the “Christian Right.” And former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani -- a much-divorced, impenitent adulterer and frequent cross-dresser who has long been an unabashed supporter of homosexual “rights” and unrestricted abortion – earned the effusive endorsement of the Rev. Pat Robertson. This is because Giuliani is committed to unlimited foreign war and the continued enhancement of the Homeland Security State.
How has it come to be that the nation's most conspicuous Evangelical broadcaster could countenance a politician like Giuliani, much less endorse him as a presidential contender? Bear in mind that the consensus among Evangelical leaders appears to be that the president must be supported without cavil or qualification – as long as he's a Republican. So Robertson was urging Christians to give unlimited and unqualified power to someone whose personal life and political career embody the utter repudiation of the values Christian conservatives have fought to preserve.
“Yes, Giuliani may be a pervert and would likely be a tyrant,” Robertson appeared to be saying, “but at least he would keep our country at war on a more or less permanent basis.”
This is what passes for wisdom from the most influential figure in the “Christian Right.” With shepherds like this at the helm, is it any wonder that our nation is being delivered into undisguised bondage?
It is time for true, Bible-believing Christians to heed the Bible and the United States Constitution, and to stand up for God’s truth, rather than continue to follow compromising leaders who apparently know not Jefferson or Washington. American sovereignty is fading away as we move towards the North American Union (i.e., the uniting of Canada, America, and Mexico into one political region). Eventually, this will give way to the global state—the New World Order. There is no biblical or constitutional way to justify this. The American Church, rather than opposing the forces of evil and the push towards globalism, is helping to bring this about. It is time for the American Evangelical Church to break her ties with the Republican Party and to stand for truth. There is no room for compromise—the future of our Republic is at stake.
Dr. Fernandes is Pastor of Trinity Bible Fellowship in and President of the Institute of Biblical Defense in Bremerton, Washington (www.biblicaldefense.org). He is also the author of numerous books, including The God Who Sits Enthroned, and God, Government and the Road to Tyranny: A Christian View of Government & Morality « Back
to Article List
|
