[JamesP81]

Letting the Christian right "own" the response to the left on many social issues keeps them on the table as the hot topics to the delight of the left and the MSM....

There's a lot of variation in the camps that makes this hard to change. I'm a strict constitutionalist and believe in minimal govt, but I'm still on board with many of the social issues as much as I am with the fiscal and constitutional issues. I don't think they are mutually exclusive; I just think the problem is that many Christians (and non-Christians for that matter) no longer understand the proper realm of the Church and the State.

The primary function of the Church is to bring the saving knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people. The primary function of the State is to secure and protect the rights of the individual citizen against infringement.

Now, I get accused of being a libertarian and even occasionally a weak Christian when I voice my strong opposition of federal government censorship of entertainment mediums. It is not the job of the state to protect us from objectionable content; it is the function of the church to set the moral example in the community and tell people that this behavior isn't good. On the other hand, the libertarians start calling me a statist when I say abortion and euthanasia should clearly be illegal. Why? Again, it is the function of the state to protect the individual's rights from being infringed. These rights include the right to life, which means not letting your mother have you dismembered and removed from her womb before you're even born; it also means not letting your unfaithful husband starve you to death for the insurance money.

The solution is for the people to be taught what the true function of the government is supposed to be and for the Church to teach everyone in the congregation what the job of the Church is (as it relates to civil society. The true function of the Church is bring unbelievers to the saving knowledge of the gospel; but the church also has some other functions where civil society is concerned, and it is important that these are understood).

[hilaryrhymeswithrich]

Well said...too bad Dick can't seem to express himself that way! In essence I think that is his point in a stumbly, bumbly way.

You articulated my feelings exactly....

[itsahoot]

The true function of the Church is bring unbelievers to the saving knowledge of the gospel;

How well does that work in an Islamic society? Socialist society? Communist society?

Maybe the Chistians have an obligation not to let their society be corrupted beyond redemption.

And he to the jawbone of an ass...........