What Does It Mean to Have a Christian Government? (part 1), 7-27-2010

 A newspaper article out of California shocked me. This group of California lawyers banded together to elect Christian judges and so return us to a Christian country. Although the Indiana Supreme Court accepted my resignation from the bar, this article left me thinking I might not be as dumb as these California lawyers.

I get the conservative argument that there should be no separation between church and state. Agree with, no. I am not sure if they understand what they are doing. That thought led me to this list of questions, wherein I presume we do away with the religion clauses of the First Amendment for the purpose of promoting Christianity:

1. What about papal infallibility – accept or not?
2. Shall the government accept the Pope as the premier Christian leader in the world?
3. How will the government stand on the schism between Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches?
4. How will the government stand on Protestantism versus Catholicism?
5. Will the government approve definitive Biblical texts? Will the Lord's Prayer use “debtors” or “trespassers”?
6. How will the church be organized – an episcopacy, a presbytery, or on congregational organization?
7. Shall the communion wafer symbolize Christ's body, or will it transform into His flesh?
8. Shall the communion wine symbolize Christ's blood, or will it transform into His blood?
9. Shall the government ban all alcoholic beverages or not?
10. Shall the government hold that medical care is forbidden?
11. Shall the government forbid all blood transfusions?
12.  Since the government funds all schools, are not now all church schools also public schools?
13. How much will save by removing all military expenditures and create a purely defensive military?
14. Won't our judges need theological training as well as legal training, as they will surely be called upon to settle religious issues?
15. What will become of our clothing industry when zippers will need replaced by buttons?
16. What becomes of the cosmetics industry when cosmetics become forbidden?
17. What happens to American pork production if American courts decide that Christians must follow the Mosaic food laws?
18. How do we implement the death penalty for adultery?
19. What shall be done about and to the heretic, the apostate, and the infidel?
20. What do we do about the Mormons and the Unitarians?
21. More generally, how do we define Christian and Christianity?

If my questions make no sense to you, and you call yourself a Christian, then you are definitely an American. I pulled the first twenty questions from the history of Christianity. Most have resulted in death and destruction; others have only resulted in schism and/or physical pain.

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[Continued in What Does23 It Mean to Have a Christian Government? (part 2), 7-27-2010. sch 2/18/]