{"id":18662,"date":"2015-12-14T09:45:15","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T14:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/?p=18662"},"modified":"2023-09-08T14:15:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T18:15:50","slug":"christians-and-the-power-of-the-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2015\/12\/14\/christians-and-the-power-of-the-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Christians and the Power of the State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The picture above is me sitting in the Speaker’s Chair in the House of Commons. Oh, don’t I wish. Benevolent King John seated comfortably on his throne!  Imagine being king or queen for a day. What laws would you proclaim?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We live in a litigious society that is polarized around issues of morality and religion and where people are ready and willing to use the coercive power of the state<\/strong> to enforce their positions on others. That combination means that Christians<\/strong> are more and more finding themselves having to deal with court cases, tribunal hearings, and government policy or legislation initiated by others. This puts us on the defensive, trying to protect values that we believe are beneficial to society, or (more recently) to protect religious freedom and rights.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I’ve justified before<\/a>, we should use the available tools of the state to defend ourselves. I am glad we have highly skilled and knowledgeable voices such as the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada<\/a> to speak and act on our behalf. And of course, the Canadian Council of Christian Charities gets involved too, when an issue affects the life and operation of a Christian charity.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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