Sunday, April 27, 2025
Sunday Reflection: Two spheres, or one?
Here is something I believe, straight up: I think our government should feed the poor, cloth the naked, heal the sick, and welcome the stranger. I believe these things because of my faith; that's what Jesus said was important to do. It's not a violation of church and state for me, as an individual, to want my government to do those things.
Many disagree with me, from two directions. One group of critics include those who want a sharp wall of separation between church and state, a wall that even extends within our own selves, such that our faith does not intersect with what we think about government.
A second group of critics thinks that what I list above counts as "charity," and that is the duty of private individuals and groups, not the government.
Both critiques ask for a destruction of integrity-- that there be two spheres we create.
To the first group, I would say this: I can't do that (separate my political self and personal self), and it's not fair to expect me to put aside my core values when I vote. In other words, I can't have two spheres inside me, one for politics and one for everything else.
To the second group, my answer is this: Isn't all the world God's? And if you believe real truth lies in faith, why would you carve out a part of that world from being subject to those truths? In other words-- why would we divide the external world into two spheres, one of which is subject to the truths we believe, and the other is not?
