SOCIAL
PRINCIPLES #5 – THE POLITICAL COMMUNITY
This week is The Political Community
section with sub-sections of:
- ·
Basic
Freedoms and Human Rights
- ·
Political
Responsibility
- ·
Church
and State Relations
- ·
Freedom
of Information
- ·
Education
- ·
Civil
Obedience and Civil Disobedience
- ·
The
Death Penalty
- ·
Criminal
Justice and Restorative Justice
- ·
Military
Service
We’ve all heard of the necessity of
the separation of church and state. That is true, in the sense that government shouldn’t
control how people are allowed to practice religion. Likewise, the church
shouldn’t override the government. But, as the Social Principles say, governments
are necessary to order the lives of people. And churches are necessary to order
our spirits and our faith.
They can and should be allowed to
work together in our lives. For different purposes and at different times. All
of that being said, there may be “opinions” of the government that people of
faith struggle with. These topics or “opinions” are addressed in this section—not
to override the government but to render the opinions and beliefs of people of
faith.
As a tidbit of information, the
United Methodist Church is designed very much like the US government in some
ways. The United Methodist Church was formed here in the United States when
John Wesley’s Methodist movement was brought here. So the UMC has an executive “branch”
(Bishops); a judicial “branch” (the Judicial Council); and a legislative “branch”
(General Conference). While we may not like some of the hierarchy in our government
or in our church, the creators of both the country’s government and the church’s
government set it up in a way they felt would be best. That’s not to say that
change is unnecessary or unwarranted or bad.
Stay informed and understand what is
going on! Be good stewards of the political government and situation, as well
as the church.
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