“We can’t legislate
morality.” I remember first hearing this
phrase in college. Two college students
were talking about Christians and politics.
They were using this argument as a reason why Christians should not be
involved in politics. When I consider
the state that our nation is in, I am forced to look at this argument
again. As I scrutinize this statement, I
see some major flaws in this argument.
First, let’s look at the home. If we say that we cannot legislate another
person’s morality; then it stands to reason that, as a parent, you can’t set
“house rule” either. The minute you set
up and enforce set standards of conduct for your children, you are indeed
legislating their morality. Imagine what
your home would be like if you set no standards. It would be chaos or anarchy and a completely
unpleasant place to live. Children would
stay up as long as they wanted; you could do whatever you wanted to another
family member, and no one could say it was wrong.
Second, consider what will happen if I drive 75 in a school
zone if there is a policeman around, or if I break into your car and “borrow“
it. I dare you to try to tell that
policeman as he handcuffs you that he can’t legislate your morality. In case you didn’t know our Judicial system is
based on Biblical principles.
Third, God himself already set standards. They are called the Ten Commandments. Does God expect that everyone abide by the
Ten Commandments? I will say yes, yes he does.
The Ten Commandments were given by God to everyone. It was not set aside for only a few to
follow. Part of the reason for the Ten
Commandments was to show us that we could never be good enough to earn
Heaven. We could never find that out if
we weren't expected to obey the Ten Commandments whether or not we are
Christians.
Finally, because of the nature of our government, someone is
legislating morality. If Christians will
not legislate morality, then who will; let me give you a hint, the people of
this world. Who would be better at
setting moral standards than Christians who have the mind of Christ? As Christians, we must stand up for right and
legislate morality. If we don’t no one
else will.
Today I painted the bathroom. It really needed a painting. It had at least four or five years since the last time it had been painted. It’s not that it didn't need to be painted before now; it definitely did and every once in a while, I would say to myself “I really need to paint this bathroom”. In addition, I actually love painting. So what took me so long? I am in a never ending battle with Newton's first law of Motion. An object at rest remains at rest unless acted upon by a force; an object in motion remains in motion and at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by a force. I have a hard time getting started. I love running or walking but often getting started is the problem. Huge cleaning jobs present the same conundrum. I know that it sounds weird, and I may be the only one with this dilemma. I have to fight Newton’s first order of motion in order to get things done. An object at rest remains at rest unless acted upon by a force. It requires energy to get me moving. From where does the force needed to get me started on a project come? It comes from within me; my own passion and willpower. If a person actually wants to do something, he or she will usually find a way to get it done. I wonder how many things in life we fail to do not because we can’t but because we don’t truly have the yearning and resolve. As much as I knew I needed to paint the bathroom, the desire was not that exceptional nor was the determination. Likewise, as much as I love running, in prior years the desire and determination was not been that vast, and I have not run too much at all. This year I decided to make it a goal to run at least once a week. So far I have managed to reach my goal. Mostly because I have already determined that I will run. Since getting started is the bigger part of the battle, once I got started, the rest was “a piece of cake”. Because, then, the rest of Newton’s first law of motion kicked in; an object in motion remains in motion and at a constant velocity. Whether it’s a project, running, or something else; once I get started I don’t want to stop until I’m finished. The rest of Newton’s first law of motion, unless acted upon by a force, doesn't apply unless my husband wants me to stop and eat or I have to stop for sleep. Then, don’t you know, I have to fight that battle all once again.
