<em>It’s an evil influence upon children!</em>
Almost as long as I can remember, Theocons have used children and childhood as pawns in an attempt to use politics as a tool to fight against the advancing secularization of society.
I am a believer in Jesus of Nazareth. I believe that He is eternal Deity. I also believe in the inerrancy of the Bible as given by inspiration in the original languages. I believe in the concept of objective inspiration in which the writer was not permitted to insert his opinions or feelings but was only permitted to write the specific words given to him by God. Within my religious environment, I am very religously conservative, insisting on a “Thus says the Lord” for all that we say and do.
However, I do not believe that secular politics is a tool for fighting a spiritual battle.
Recently a theological conservative, from a religion which is vastly different from my own, came out with a campaign to eliminate cartoon mice because of the evil influence which they have upon children. He targeted Disney’s Mickey Mouse as being one of the worst offenders.
Now before you start laughing too hard at this, let me remind you that there are many Theocons in the USA that would like to pass laws eliminating violence from children’s cartoons. According to them, Road Runner and Wily Coyote are an evil influence upon children. And let us not forget the evil influence which Bart Simpson has upon children, either.
I am all in favor of parents controlling what small children watch on TV. I do think that many TV cartoons, including the two that I mentioned in the previous paragraph are bad for small children. But I do not think that making such cartoons illegal is the solution to child-rearing negligence.
Parents, you need to obey Deuteronomy 6:5-9, even though Christians are not under the Mosaic law. As my Grandfather used to say
<blockquote>”But bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and instill within them a desire serve Thee all the days of their lives.”</blockquote>
America needs to provide laws which empower its citizens to observe their individual religious convictions - but avoid passing laws which make it illegal to do something which violates a certain religions peculiar doctrines.
Some Theocons talk out of both sides of their mouths when it comes to politics. If as most religious Americans claim to believe - religion is the product of the transformation of the individual’s soul or mind, then no institutional mandate can make a person religious.
Most Theocons, if in control of the Republican party would tend to make it difficult for anyone who was not either an Orthodox Jew or a Fundamentalist Protestant to be a Republican in spite of the fact that there are political and social conservatives in many other religions.
Many of the early national leaders of America were not theologically conservative. While many of them believed in a supernatural providence, there were many who did not believe in the soul salvation-centric doctrines of the Bible. Some of the early leaders did not take the memorial of Christ’s death in the churches which they attended because these did not believe in the Deity of Jesus. Some were not members of any church. For example, although Abraham Lincoln believed in an Almighty God, the surviving evidence points against a belief in Jesus as Savior.
I am opposed to the anarchistic approach to liberty which allows citizens to shirk basic responsibilities for consequences, and I plan to talk more about this in future postings, but the answer is not to use the power of the state to impose religious strictures on unbelievers.
