On "Separation of Church and State

While Church and State may be separate by law, the obligation of the Christian to be "like Christ" is a call that most of the world today considers hypocritical at best and obscene at worst. The Church today is dying because the world is waiting for Christians to act upon what they say they believe. That means putting the compassion for others ahead of themselves; it means clothing the naked, healing the sick, feeding the hungry and giving hope to the hopeless. This activity brought Christ into conflict with the powers of the Temple and Rome. They ultimately crucified him for it. In the political arena, Christians are called to espouse their ideology within the public arena so that the world sees Christ - not money, not race, not individualism, not anything but Christ. If we achieve that, we must be willing to be crucified with him also. Jesus was a threat to the Temple controlled by the politicians of Rome. The religious right has become the modern day Pharisees that Christians need to stand against like Jesus did. Equating a victory for those who are disenfranchised from basic health care with a defeat for Christians is very much like throwing moneychangers out of the temple when you look at it from that perspective.

The modern Christian is empowered by the right to "free Speech" but is usually afraid to voice the Gospel and its message that brings us into conflict with the status quo. When the "sons of God" act like the "Son of God" then we can move into the "Kingdom of God".