THE HEARTS OF MEN

Bringing the Gospel Back to our Nation

“ Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God….For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but too bad. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; for it is God's servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain.”

                  Romans 13:1, 3-4

  A lot of Christians are more disturbed about the moral ground that our government is standing on (including myself as I'm sure my last article said that loud and clear) more than they are about the economy and other important issues. However, many of us are taught that these are the moments in life when we need to pray the most and remain faithful to all that Jesus taught us.

  Many American Christians question the future of issues like abortion, border security, homeland security, stem cell research as well the direction that public education is going. This we know because aside from the direction that these issues will take us as a nation we know that there are moral consequences that come from foolish decision making. But if you look carefully, nothing has really changed. To quote my father-in-law, “We only change direction. We don't change policy.” If you ask me, no truer words have ever been spoken in relation to politics and government.

  I know that Jesus was speaking about taxes when he said to, “render under Caesar what is Caesar's.” Sometimes, I think that also refers to the attitude of leadership and guidance. And if that is so we can find a better way to live our lives.

  It is disheartening to know that more of our tax dollars are funding more abortions on demand, the destruction of embryonic stem cells, immoral public education and of course, these horrible wars. Of course we can all agree that in a perfect world such activities would be outlawed and that punishment for such would be severe. But what is more disheartening, that a secular based government that doesn't even honor its own Constitution is forcing changes upon us or that God fearing people actually choose to access these services after embracing the behavior that causes people to desire such services?

  For example, in my high school theology classes, we'll speak about abortion and many of my students are disgusted by the legality as well as the act of the procedure. But then I ask them if they would still feel that way if they got pregnant or got someone pregnant and now had to face not only the reality of telling their parents but also the responsibilities that come with bearing a child at an age when they are not ready?

  In other words, we need to stop asking WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? because we all know the answer to that question. Now we need to ask ourselves WHAT WILL WE DO? , at those moments of truth. As Paul said, do what is good, and you will receive its approval. Of course he didn't say it would be easy; God knows our society and probably our government wouldn't agree with what we are doing by doing the right thing and we all know how hard it is to defeat selfishness in itself. But we don't follow a President or an ideologue for that matter, we follow a King and our King doesn't break His promises.

  So why do I bring all of this up? Because Christians at times fall into the same trap that many what I call government worshipping Americans fall into. We look to the government for all of life's answers. We somehow think that if we outlaw something that we consider to be immoral that it will simply go away. I'm sure you would all agree that the perfect example of such a claim is the most recent California election and its ban on same sex marriages that is now being challenged by California elites. We've known for years that reelection campaigns dictate policy and that what is right is not as important to politicians as how much will you give to my campaign.

So now, more than ever in the history of this nation, we need to raise our children with the Gospel at the center of everything that we do and yes, I mean everything we do, as our children see and have opinions about everything we do. This I know because my profession allows me to lead so many discussions where my students for years have told me all that their parents say and all that their parents do and believe me, when parents act hypocritical they see it all and challenge their parents on all of it either in word or in deed.

To conclude, let's stop asking what Jesus would do and remind ourselves what we need to do as it's not only for our children, but also for our nation. If we can make truly Christian people first they will have no interest in the immoral services and ideologies that society has to offer. And as these generations grow and more of them are registered voters even opportunistic politicians will have to listen to the Gospel centered Christian voice that prepares to cast their vote.

CARLOS SOLORZANO has a BA & MA in Religious Studies from Cal State Long Beach. He lives in Southern Arizona and teaches theology at Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson , AZ

Contact Carlos at: desert_drumming@yahoo.com