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Opinion: Can Christian citizenship survive?

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by gb93433, Jun 19, 2009.

  1. gb93433

    gb93433 Active Member
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    The entire story is at http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4165&Itemid=9

    It seems increasingly clear that Christians in America have no viable understanding of what used to be called “Christian citizenship.”

    Let’s use these two working definitions to anchor our discussion:
    Citizenship is the condition of being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties associated with being a citizen; that is, a member of a political community who owes some sort of allegiance to that community and is in turn entitled to its protection.

    Christian citizenship refers to the particular rights, privileges, and duties of Christians in relation to the nations in which they are citizens, and the way these rights and responsibilities cohere with their allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord.

    A first observation is that most Americans, simply as Americans, have thought very little about basic questions of citizenship. We may be aware of our rights and privileges in relation to the United States of America and its various levels of government, but tend to think very little about our correlated duties and responsibilities. Probably most of us can barely name any of those duties, other than paying taxes and obeying the law.
     
  2. Freedom

    Freedom New Member

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    This is an insightful article. The author says:

    The apostasy option is my term for Christian citizenship in which loyalty to the nation is primary, but is conflated and confused with loyalty to Christ. This kind of Christian citizen is passionate about America and acts as if everything that advances America’s cause advances Christ’s as well. Where there might be points of tension between our Christian and national allegiances -- as in the use of torture or fighting wars of choice -- this kind of Christian citizen finds a way to relax the tension so that Jesus the Lord does not in fact challenge any aspect of American national interest.

    I call this the apostasy option because this kind of idolatrous national henotheism is, indeed, a form of apostasy. I think it is the primary way most well-meaning American Christians do their citizenship.

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    This is a good description of all those who call for America to be a "Christian nation." These fuse their love for country with their professed love for Jesus.
     
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