It’s a common trope that religion and politics don’t mix. It’s frequently stated – even by Christians – that Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics.
It is my contention that all political thought exists within the context of religious thought. If one seeks to have political thought without religious thought, they will not be successful at this endeavor.
The evidence of my thinking can be found in a simple comparison of two revolutions. One must only look at the French Revolution and the American Revolution to understand my point.
The French Revolution began as a Godless one, fueled by Enlightenment individualism. The lead thinkers of this revolution – being part of the Cult of Reason – became gods unto themselves. Raising the reason and intellect of man to the throne, they did not create a society with no God. Instead, they created a society where everyone became a law unto themselves.
In essence, they became gods. There is a political system tailor-made for such a religion and that system is anarchy. To put it another way, the political system of the Church of Reason is anarchy.
However, this could not sustain itself. At least not with a man like Maximilien Robespierre on the scene. He became the leader of The Cult of the Supreme Being. Tired of the excesses tied to Heber’s Cult of Reason, he sought to instill spirituality back into France. Of course, he did so by becoming a defacto dictator, while serving on the Committee of Public Safety. This is inevitable when your god has no name or revelation.
As a result, we can now read about the atrocities of the Reign of Terror that took place under the control of Robespierre. The guillotine was popular, to give you an idea.
America had a much different revolution. Insistent that they not be taxed without being represented – and having lived without aid, on the frontiers of this new land – they wanted to govern themselves.
However, they did not desire to create anarchy. Instead, they sought a republic. They did so based upon the foundation laid by all nations with a Calvinist heritage and a similitude with ancient Israel. The American people were thoroughly religious – thoroughly Christian – and interested in a political system that represented that.
As predicted by our founders, our Constitution is unfit for the governance of an irreligious people. To be more plain, without the restoration of Christian political thought and Christian duty, our nation will fall by the way of judgement.
Jeremy Wiggins writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, jeremywiggins87@gmail.com.