The next generation of evangelicals and their politics

I recently saw a news report about the next generation of evangelicals. According to the report they are latching on to a different set of issues than their parents. The older generation being strongly against abortion and homosexuality, while this new generation wants to solve problems such as the environment, pornography, and poverty. So far so good. All of these issues are important and I think the Church has an obligation to address them.

But the next part of the report made me think that the new generation is falling into the same errors that the old generation fell into. The report went on to show a large group of these young evangelicals in Times Square marching for change. Some of these teenagers reported that they wanted Obama to win the political election so change in these areas would occur. When one teen was asked about Obama's stance on abortion, his only reply was that Obama has personal opinions and it is not right for him to judge Obama. I don't want to be overly critical of this young teenager, because he was probably had more passion for Christ than I had at his age. But I do want to question the tactics of this new generation.

It is my understanding that when the Church tries to enact change through the political realm, too much is lost. Can we really say the older generation succeeded when abortion is so prevalent and homosexuality becomes more and more mainstream in our culture. Sadly, if the same errors are perpetuated, lasting and meaningful change in the issues of the younger generation will also be doomed to failure.

Do these teens really want a president that might enact stringent laws against polluting, regulate the Internet, and pass out free health care to all its citizens. But how much will all of this cost? When jobs are lost to pay for environmental fixes, when freedom of speech is lost, and when the tax burden to cover health care for an entire nation costs too much. And not to mention when a fetus continues to be no more than a bunch of cells with no rights. New issues, same old tactics will not work. A new solution is needed.

I say, give me a candidate that is pro-liberty and pro-freedom. That will fight for a smaller government with less taxes. So that I can then use that extra money to give to the local pregnancy center that teaches women about the sanctity of life and help the addict who is addicted to pornography and to work to see transforming change in the poor that are around me and above all to further the growth of the Church. I know from experience, I feel a lot more generous when I give to the Church that is involved in solving these problems, rather than giving my money to a distant federal government that has no desire to see people's spiritual lives change. Yes, let it be the Church that advances the Kingdom of God, that changes people's lives not only physically, but spiritually, rather than the political machine that fails far to often.

I will end with this quote that I think wonderfully represents the proper function and relationship between the Church and State.

The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders’ political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. Certainly the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, both replete with references to God, would be aghast at the federal government’s hostility to religion. The establishment clause of the First Amendment was simply intended to forbid the creation of an official state church like the Church of England, not to drive religion out of public life.

The Founding Fathers envisioned a robustly Christian yet religiously tolerant America, with churches serving as vital institutions that would eclipse the state in importance. Throughout our nation’s history, churches have done what no government can ever do, namely teach morality and civility. Moral and civil individuals are largely governed by their own sense of right and wrong, and hence have little need for external government.

This is the real reason the collectivist Left hates religion: Churches as institutions compete with the state for the people’s allegiance, and many devout people put their faith in God before putting their faith in the state. Knowing this, the secularists wage an ongoing war against religion, chipping away bit by bit at our nation’s Christian heritage.

-Taken from "Christmas in Secular America" by Ron Paul

This is the solution that is so desperately needed.