\n\tThe confetti and popped balloons of the 2012 U.S. presidential race were hardly swept into trash bins before speculation started about the next
\n\tpresidential election cycle, a full four years away. Aside from the annoyance many feel about the \u201cperpetual campaign mode\u201d now afflicting American
\n\tpolitics, the trouble into which one potential presidential candidate has already stepped speaks volumes about the impact exerted by the Religious Right
\n\tand its allies on the interaction of faith and civic life.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe controversy began with an interview given by Florida senator Marco Rubio, considered by many a likely presidential contender in 2016, in the December \n\tWithin hours of its online posting, the interview provoked controversy across the political spectrum, from left-leaning columnists offering this as \n\tPaul Kengor of The American Spectator<\/i> went on to admonish Rubio and other conservatives that such questions from mainline news sources will \u201conly get \n\tReading such exchanges evokes a variety of contrary emotions in one such as myself. I too am a theologically conservative Bible believer. I hold that the \n\tBut I also believe in a much-neglected and much-ignored biblical teaching\u2014that God grants liberty of conscience to all. After all, according to Scripture, \n\tIt is popular just now for conservative Christians to talk about religious freedom. I fully share their passion for the right of religious people to preach \n\tIt is the freedom to commit sin that the Religious Right disputes. They want freedom for conservative Christians to proclaim and live what they believe, \n\tHere is where so many religious conservatives hurt their cause deeply. Like the parent who employs coercive means to constrain a grown child to follow what \n\tI\u2019m not a scientist either, but simple logic compels me to wonder how something as complicated as even one human cell could be the result of chance. It \n\tBut the use of carnal power by so many conservative Christians has obscured and mitigated much of the evidence for the superiority of Christian beliefs and \n\tChristians should never delude themselves into thinking their perspective on ultimate reality will ever command a majority of human minds. Jesus Himself \n\t1 www.gq.com\/news-politics\/politics\/201212\/marco-rubio-interview-gq-december-2012<\/a>. The confetti and popped balloons of the 2012 U.S. presidential race were hardly swept into trash bins before speculation started about the next presidential election cycle, a full four years away. Aside from the annoyance many feel about the \u201cperpetual campaign mode\u201d now afflicting American politics, the trouble into which one potential presidential candidate has<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[197],"tags":[29],"class_list":["post-5407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-march-april-2013","tag-march-april-2013"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5407\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\t2012 edition of GQ<\/i> magazine.1<\/sup> In this interview Rubio was asked at one point: \u201cHow old do you think the earth is?\u201d Rubio replied\u2014among other things\u2014that he
\n\twasn\u2019t a scientist, that theologians have argued at length about this question, and that he couldn\u2019t understand what this issue has to do with the economic
\n\tprosperity or gross domestic product of the United States.2<\/sup>\n<\/p>\n
\n\tevidence that Rubio is in thrall to religious extremism3<\/sup> to right-leaning opinion-makers insisting such questions are nothing more than booby traps set for
\n\tconservatives by liberal zealots posing as journalists.4<\/sup> Noted conservative pundit Erick Erickson responded with a defiant screed affirming his faith not
\n\tonly in God\u2019s creatorship but also in the literal nature of Noah\u2019s flood, the story of Jonah and the great fish, the divinity and resurrection of Jesus
\n\tChrist, as well as the final judgment of men and women described in Holy Scripture.5<\/sup> In addition, he openly resented the dismissive manner in which he
\n\tclaims people of faith are often treated by the mainstream media, lamenting at one point how \u201cChristian homeschool kids . . ., who routinely kick the rear
\n\tends of the Ivy prep kids in academics, are considered stupid.6<\/sup>\n<\/p>\n
\n\tworse,\u201d and that those on the right must therefore \u201cbe smart and strong and ready, and just as aggressive in responding as liberals are in demonizing.\u201d7<\/sup>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n\tAngst of the Liberty-loving Bible Believer
\n<\/h2>\n
\n\tearth was created exactly as Genesis says it was\u2014in six literal, consecutive, contiguous 24-hour days, approximately 6,000 years ago. This position places
\n\tme even to the right of Erick Erickson, who claims to believe in creation but still agrees with popular evolutionary theories that the earth is most likely
\n\tbillions of years old.8<\/sup> I also believe that angels are real, that Noah\u2019s flood happened the way the Bible says, and that the miraculous life of Jesus
\n\tChrist is a historical fact. I also believe\u2014in harmony with Scripture\u2014that Jesus is literally coming back to this earth again, and that all humanity will
\n\tbe arrayed in judgment before His throne when that happens.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tGod placed both the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the primeval Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9). When asked by the Roman
\n\tgovernor Pontius Pilate whether He intended to establish an earthly kingdom, Christ declared that His kingdom was not of this world, and that His followers
\n\twere thus forbidden to use force in His name (John 18:36). And the final invitation offered to humankind in the Bible story likewise affirms the sanctity
\n\tof free choice: \u201cWhosoever will, let him take the water of life freely\u201d (Revelation 22:17).\n<\/p>\n
\n\tand practice their faith, and teach it to their children, as they wish. But I hold that religious liberty applies to sinners as well as saints, to those
\n\twho make choices contrary to God\u2019s Word as surely as to those choosing to obey that Word.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tand to pass it on to their offspring without government interference. But when it comes to the personal relationships and private choices of those choosing
\n\ta lifestyle contrary to Scripture, Christian conservatives tend to become far less enthusiastic about freedom.\n<\/p>\n\n\tPoisoning the Well
\n<\/h2>\n
\n\tmay well be commonsense counsel, today\u2019s Christian political activists seem not to understand that when theology takes up the sword of civil power, it
\n\tdoesn\u2019t matter how much solid, sensible evidence exists for that theology or the lifestyle it enjoins. Because it is coupled with the threat of force, the
\n\twell is poisoned, and those who might otherwise give the biblical worldview a fair hearing respond instead with knee-jerk revulsion.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tmakes no more sense than for the masterpieces in the Louvre or Guggenheim to have been the result of an explosion in a paint shop, or for that sleek new
\n\tMercedes gliding down a suburban lane to have resulted from an explosion in a steel factory. One need not be a Victorian prude to recognize that observing
\n\tbiblical standards of sexual behavior is likely to spare a person considerable grief\u2014fractured relationships, weekend parenthood, STDs, and a whole lot
\n\tmore. I have no doubt, as Erick Erickson says, that Christian homeschoolers tend to do better academically than many of the best from other backgrounds. It
\n\twouldn\u2019t be the first time (anyone remember Daniel and his companions?). And it doesn\u2019t take a complex analysis of human history and contemporary life to
\n\tpersuade the thoughtful mind that humanity seems abysmally incapable of solving its own problems, and that the biblical promise of final judgment and the
\n\tultimate end of evil thus offers a refreshing alternative vision for the world\u2019s future.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tthe Christian way of life. Because the Christian worldview is associated in many thoughtful minds with the use of civil force as a means of furthering
\n\tChristian values, this worldview is wrongly relegated by those same minds to the fringes of lunacy, fanaticism, and the eccentric anachronism of the Flat
\n\tEarth Society. Like advice from one\u2019s in-laws, Christian beliefs are eschewed not because of their objective merits or lack thereof, but because of their
\n\tassociation with meddlesome intrusiveness.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tdeclared: \u201cNarrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it\u201d (Matthew 7:14). Sin will always be more popular in this world than
\n\trighteousness. But far better for biblical teachings to suffer rejection merely because of unregenerate hearts than for these teachings to face revilement
\n\tbecause our Lord\u2019s own admonition against the use of force in His name (Matthew 26:52; John 18:36) has been set aside by His professed followers.\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n\t2 Ibid<\/i>.
\n
\n\t3 www.newyorker.com\/online\/blogs\/newsdesk\/2012\/11\/marco-rubio-needs-evolution.html#ixzz2CtdUFkPx<\/a>.
\n
\n\t4 Paul Kengor, \u201cSmearing Rubio,\u201d The American Spectator<\/i>, Nov. 26, 2012; Erick Erickson, \u201cI Believe and Am Thankful,\u201d<\/i> Nov. 20, 2012; www.redstate.com<\/a>.
\n
\n\t5 Erickson.
\n
\n\t6 Ibid<\/i>.
\n
\n\t7 Kengor.
\n
\n\t8 Erickson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"