Authoritarian Government

It seems to me that there are many aspects of the Culture Wars, but the conflict revolves around the key issue of what is Right and what is Wrong.  In that discussion, we find many areas of dispute, including but definitely not limited to the following:

Absolutes vs Relativism

Religion vs non-religion/secularism/pantheology

Political Correctness vs Free Speech

A High view of Live vs Abortion on Demand

Multi-Culturalism vs a blended, "Melting Pot" society

Feminism -- new roles for Women in our postmodern society

Homosexuality impinging on traditional marriage

Class consciousness -- hatred of "The Rich"

Academic Terrorism -- Whatever happened to scholarly discussion?

Freedom of Conscience -- will honest men be forced to act against personal principle?

These are significant issues, of great importance in our day.  Will we as Christians stand by while voices louder than ours present the other side, or will we stand up and make the Biblical case for a Christian World View?  How can we be Salt and Light in the world if we are unwilling to provide the savor and illumination the Bible calls upon us for?  In his day, Francis Schaeffer did not shrink from providing honest answers to honest questions, even when such answers may have repelled some of the questioners.  He was in the forefront of those who said that abortion was wrong.  He pointed out the logical conclusions and the eventual result of acceptance of abortion, and today we see euthanasia written into law.  He signed the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.  He pointed out the fallacy of going through life seeking only "Personal Peace and Affluence."

 

Mark Levin, in his book Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservitave Manifesto, makes the case that those who envision an all-powerful state are leading us toward a government of "soft dictatorship."  I commend his book to your attention, because many of the principles of a conservative political movement are those that derive from a Christian world view.

 

Then there's this quote:  "If we as Christians do not speak out as authoritarian governments grow from within or come from outside, eventually we or our children will be the enemy of society and the state.  No truly authoritarian government can tolerate those who have a real absolute by which to judge its arbitrary absolutes and who speak out and act upon that absolute.  This was the issue with the early church in regard to the Roman Empire, and though the specific issue will in all probability take a different form than Caesar-worship, the basic issue of having an absolute by which to judge the state and society will be the same.  Here is a statement to memorize: to make no decision in regard to the growth of authoritarian government is already a decision for it."  Sound familiar?  These are the words of Francis A Schaeffer, on page 256 of his book How Should We Then Live? (copyright 1983).  We would do well to consider them carefully as we look at the society in which we find ourselves living.

 

"What Were You Thinking?"