discuss: christianity and the revolutionary war
We’re a couple of weeks past the 4th now, and I know I’ve got some Aussies in the audience here, but I thought this was a fascinating subject for discussion.
American Christians like to wrap themselves in the flag and proclaim America as a Christian nation, but have we considered our origins? The Bible tells Christians to submit to the authorities, except for when they’re called to disobey God. But even if Britain called Americans to do un-Christian things anyways (can you think of anything?), does that still justify a complete break rather than a simple bit of civil disobedience?
Question to consider:
Was the American Revolutionary War the Christian thing to do? Either way, what are the implications of your answer?
July 24th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
First, when addressing the issue of whether the war was just based upon England’s practices, I find it really hard to see why there would have to be a revolution based upon England’s practices. Sure, the colonists were taxed, but they were also receiving protection from the Native Americans. And yes, the Anglican Church was sponsored by the English government, but England really wasn’t trying to control that. If there is an adequate reason, fine, but I suggest that it did not really matter what the Christians thought, since the people who led the revolt did not profess to be Christians.
Some founding fathers (Paine is best known for The Age of Reason, as well as Madison and Adams) were known to be Deists, while others (including Franklin and Jefferson) were influenced by Deism, which is the belief in a god that created the universe but did not and does not interfere with it since the universe was created. Now, if there are two different leaders with mutually exclusive ideas, then who takes precedence? Romans 13 is unclear on that, of course.
I would simply argue that one would have to follow the more local leaders because I believe that they can do a better job of leading you than a government who has to take care of more people and is farther away. Of course, that is my political ideology as well, so that could also be open to debate.