Here in the United States, we are all familiar with the phrase that “all men are created equal.” Thomas Jefferson first used the phrase in our Declaration of Independence and it’s been repeated countless times and across the world. Unfortunately, it seems like few people actually think about the implications this would have for global policy making. Not surprisingly, the blind fools following Ron Paul; who evoke the Founders at every turn as though they just had lunch with them; are the most oblivious.
A while ago, a handful of good people from here in Northwest Indiana asked me, “Can a Christian be a libertarian?”
The short version of my answer was, “There are too many denominations to say anything about all Christians, but from my perspective – no.” My primary argument was rooted in the equal creation of men.
One of the most important stories in the Bible is when Kane kills his brother Abel.
Genesis 4:9
And the Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered, I know not: am I my brother’s keeper?
What better introduction to the Bible can there be than Genesis? It establishes that man is fallen so that everything that follows can tell us how to find salvation. And then Kane asking the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” – and God doesn’t answer him directly, almost like it would be spoiling what is to come next. The answer to Kane’s question, of course, is YES! YOU ABSOLUTELY ARE YOUR BROTHER’S KEEPER!
Matthew 25:40
And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.
Generally speaking, I think most American Christians at least try to live up to this incredibly challenging standard set for them when it comes to other Americans. The question at the core of this post is whether or not this standard applies to our international brethren as well.
It’s important because the issue keeps manifesting itself in many different ways in our increasingly globalized world.
Should Christians leave water, food, and maps around our southern border for illegal immigrants to ensure their SAFE crossing or let them suffer and very possibly die a grueling death?
Should the United States aggressively promote human rights and popular uprisings against dictatorships where our help is desired, such as Libya and Syria? Are Americans the only people who have a right to choose their government or do all people deserve that freedom? (The American Revolution would have failed if it wasn’t for French assistance, so don’t give me that nonsense about doing it by themselves – especially in an era of flying gunships, smart bombs, automatic firearms, and digital warfare)
Should we aggressively fight any government attempting genocide to save millions of innocent lives?
Should we urge Israel to give millions of Christians and Muslims in the West Bank the right to vote for representation in Israel’s government or grant statehood to the Palestinians?
Should we make our petitions for the respect and independence of Tibet and her people and culture more forceful?
After all, if Americans were experiencing religious, ethnic, or cultural, or civic oppression, the government would step in and defend the rights we believed were given to us by our universal Creator.
If you believe Christianity tells you that strangers, even those from foreign lands, are your brothers; if you believe all men are created equal and not just all Americans; we have some evaluating to do of our foreign policy.
This is a brilliant and thoughtful post, Kevin!
It’s the kind of thing that I had in mind (but seldom wrote, if I’m honest about it) when I titled my first blog A True Believer. Really applying the principles in which we say we believe.
Anyway … yes, I am very uncomfortable with a lot of policies we have around the world, in terms of applying our faith.
So, there is at least some common ground between Baptists and Catholics, right?
Thanks Ken. Catholics and protestants do reach a lot of the same conclusions about how we apply our religious ideals in everyday life. Apparently the same may be said of foreign policy. We just have different approaches to reaching these similar conclusions.
It’s sad to see how controversial and inconvenient some of these ideas are, especially in the Republican Party. We like to talk about how Christianity is under attack from the far left, but it’s also silently under attack from the right, which is sidestepping Christian teachings whenever it is politically convenient.