Evans Politics, November 27, 2009, by Paul Evans, photo of aspens by Tyler Finvold, photo of Capitol and tulips © Stockxpert:

 

What can be done to supplement and improve a social system of government in the United States which could be Christian, caring, and at the same time liberal, in the sense of housing the poor, ridding our communities of crime, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, and helping those less fortunate and the elderly?

I am not advocating any sort of theocracy or nation which is officially “Christian.” Government is separated from religion by our nation’s guiding document, the Constitution, and I feel that the efforts of some elements within Christianity to claim otherwise, or to institute some sort of officially Christian government, are misguided, however well intentioned, and to however large a degree we are, in fact, a Christian nation, today.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want a Christian society for our nation. However we should understand that fully 24 percent of Americans do not feel they are Christians, and this is their nation, too. They fought and died in our wars, served in our governments, taught in our schools, and lived – most of them – decent, caring and thoughtful lives. To exclude them from our nation’s compact would be wrong.

The leading Jewish lights of Jesus’ day would have demanded that he not speak to the Samaritan woman; in fact, Jewish men were not to speak to women outside of strictly defined Judaism at all. I don’t think Jesus thought about that for a minute when confronted with that woman’s need, whom I note had been denied help by elements that were well “respected”. He helped her to the very best of his ability, as he did all those he came across in his life on this earth, did he not? As he did Cornelius’ son, and the man was a pagan and a citizen of a nation oppressing the aspirations of the Jewish people, yet Jesus did not hesitate to help the man in his need. Surely if we think of ourselves in any sense as a Christian nation or a Christian people, we need to follow his example and not shun those outside of our own faith group or even religion. Jesus didn’t.

This country belongs to all of us, yet I write this as a Christian espousing Christian principles upon which change for the better can be instituted, without excluding anyone, and without violating our blessed, inspired founding document which is the Constitution, and its separation of church of state.

My idea is very simple, really. It was begun to a limited extent under George W. Bush and President Obama has expanded it somewhat. Why not simply let churches be ONE of several instruments through which our secular government operates in the distribution of its expenditures and programs, and in fact do that legislatively.

President Obama, when a candidate, proposed greatly expanding the role that churches play as community centers and distribution centers for government aid programs. In other words, the churches would be empowered to carry out programs, BY the secular government, to carry out largely predetermined programs, to distribute aid, and to institute social action, for the good of the population, as determined by the government, which would continue as an entirely separate and parent institution.

It would not quite be a partnership, and participating church entities would need to realize this. But just as President Obama recognized that only at the local level are the needs of the community best recognized and addressed, when he proposed expansion of these programs, the programs could be legislated to allow considerable flexibility and some large degree of independence in the church’s activity and actions.

(In such legislation, of course, the devil would be in the details, and it must be noted, a goodly number of nonreligious and other non-Christian elements would be unhappy with the whole concept, unless it were handled and legislated quite carefully, and then even so to some large extent. When it is enacted in such a way that the church contribution is kept structurally nongovernmental and our current government remains secular and separate, as at present, perhaps many of the objections would fade. Nor could other religious groups be separated out of the process.)

To some extent the opportunity already exists in the federal program the right has demonized, Serve.gov. Why not incorporate church groups and institutions INTO this effort en masse, rather than berate and demonize the effort? Or why not create something very similar in a restructuring of the current institution and idea?

What we are saying here should not be so averse to those who are not religious, or who belong to another religion. It is simple recognition that in communities across the nation, no entity other than our religious institutions are organized well enough, with a ready cadre of volunteers and many others ready to answer the call, other than are our churches, to act as a channel for the institution of programs, which will have already been legislated and determined by our pre-existing and secular government as currently instituted.

In other words, it would be a new layer, not of government, but of social action, cleaning up crime in our cities, directing the application of anti-poverty and anti-hunger programs, providing care for the elderly and other very necessary help, under the government’s direction and supervision. They would not BE the government, they would be the government’s foot soldiers and intermediaries and, to a certain extent, moderators and administrators (I know some will object to the use of that word), at the local level. As for those in the higher levels of these church institutions, I’m sure that the programs could be structured so that plenty of opportunities and efforts at feedback to the parent governmental institutions are structurally incorporated into the plan, so long as a separation is maintained.

This is just an idea I felt directed towards. I liked the idea before I was ever a Christian, when I read of it during the Obama campaign, yet have not heard that much about it since. As a Christian people, we go to worship on Sunday, meet on Wednesday nights, and make our own efforts as best we can within our individual churches and denominations. Yet how much more could be done at the national level, with the resources available from the federal government, and with the strong participation of our religious community?

Might it not actually have a positive impact on our nation’s future? And it need not be a sweeping, wholesale change, either. A reorganization of Serve.gov with strong religious participation could start slowly yet be the instrument of a great change in America, it seems to me.

I realize that this is an apolitical, somewhat naïve and unresearched discussion. How do you feel about it? What are your objections and how do you feel my ideas could be improved upon? If you think this is a worthwhile idea, please share this article using the little “Share” button at the top. And if you feel so directed, please feel encouraged to leave a comment. ~ Paul