Self-government fails when citizens stop showing up

Very well said.

Is this something... that is forbidden from being talked about in the pulpit? Is there any violation of church state violation? Now, I say that with the stipulation that the pastor is not telling people who to vote for.

He's not, he doesn't have a candidate up there with his arm around him saying, here's my good friend, you know, vote for him or her, but is reminding people of the uniqueness of our system of government and that it is, it is heavily dependent on citizen control.

involvement your thoughts

well my own view is is that there is no limitation or restriction on those who stand in the pulpit from instructing the people in the pews as to who they should look for in their leaders.

And I just mentioned Exodus 18, 21.

This was a favorite text that ministers preached from in the lead up to elections in the founding era.

That's how important they thought that was.

There were other important texts, by the way, but that was a vital one.

Now, in our own time, in the 20th century, well, let me back up and say, almost from the beginning of the founding of the Constitutional Republic, there have been those who have tried to silence the religious voice when it comes to preaching about who would make a good leader.

There were people You may remember in the election of 1800, which is one of those decisive elections in American history, Thomas Jefferson was not an Orthodox Christian.

And there were ministers, especially in New England, who warned the American people about the dangers of electing an infidel.

to the highest office in the land.

And there were supporters of Jefferson who responded and said, uh-uh, not so fast.

You can't talk about that.

Didn't you know about that separation of church and state? So there's always been this argument from the sidelines that you can't talk about matters of faith and religious commitment when it comes to the political process, when it comes to the selection of of our leaders.

Now, in the 20th century, that really picked up momentum.

And especially in the latter half of the 20th century, there are IRS rules about what a church that wanted to maintain its tax exempt status could talk about as a church.

Now, in my own view, those were unconstitutional regulations by the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies that tried to silence the religious voice in the political marketplace of ideas.

I think it's a fundamental part of the mission of the church is to help us as citizens think through what we should be looking for in a righteous ruler.

And so I think it's very problematic when the government tries to tell us what we

can

and cannot talk about.

when it comes to matter of politics.

I think the church has to speak to all aspects of our lives, and politics is a part of that.

Very well said.

Is this something... that is forbidden from being talked about in the pulpit? Is there any violation of church state violation? Now, I say that with the stipulation that the pastor is not telling people who to vote for.

He's not, he doesn't have a candidate up there with his arm around him saying, here's my good friend, you know, vote for him or her, but is reminding people of the uniqueness of our system of government and that it is, it is heavily dependent on citizen control.

involvement your thoughts

well my own view is is that there is no limitation or restriction on those who stand in the pulpit from instructing the people in the pews as to who they should look for in their leaders.

And I just mentioned Exodus 18, 21.

This was a favorite text that ministers preached from in the lead up to elections in the founding era.

That's how important they thought that was.

There were other important texts, by the way, but that was a vital one.

Now, in our own time, in the 20th century, well, let me back up and say, almost from the beginning of the founding of the Constitutional Republic, there have been those who have tried to silence the religious voice when it comes to preaching about who would make a good leader.

There were people You may remember in the election of 1800, which is one of those decisive elections in American history, Thomas Jefferson was not an Orthodox Christian.

And there were ministers, especially in New England, who warned the American people about the dangers of electing an infidel.

to the highest office in the land.

And there were supporters of Jefferson who responded and said, uh-uh, not so fast.

You can't talk about that.

Didn't you know about that separation of church and state? So there's always been this argument from the sidelines that you can't talk about matters of faith and religious commitment when it comes to the political process, when it comes to the selection of of our leaders.

Now, in the 20th century, that really picked up momentum.

And especially in the latter half of the 20th century, there are IRS rules about what a church that wanted to maintain its tax exempt status could talk about as a church.

Now, in my own view, those were unconstitutional regulations by the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies that tried to silence the religious voice in the political marketplace of ideas.

I think it's a fundamental part of the mission of the church is to help us as citizens think through what we should be looking for in a righteous ruler.

And so I think it's very problematic when the government tries to tell us what we

can

and cannot talk about.

when it comes to matter of politics.

I think the church has to speak to all aspects of our lives, and politics is a part of that.