Subscribe

Thursday, October 21, 2021

 

               SOCIAL PRINCIPLES #5 – THE POLITICAL COMMUNITY

             I am continuing my weekly blogs talking about the United Methodist Social Principles. I have discussed The Natural World, The Nurturing Community, the Social Community and the Economic Community sections.


            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.

 

 

           

No comments:

Post a Comment