While reading through my Christian Post app, I came to this article by Chuck Colson.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/the-imago-dei-and-liberalism-65106/
I really recommend reading the entire thing, but I will pick out a couple key points:
As the article continues on to summarize, you end up with the state being the arbiter between competing personal desires. Al-la the numerous decisions we see in the legal arena and court of public opinion. This is probably most strongly illustrated on the "right" side by Ron Paul, who is on record as stating that we as citizens should be able to do what we want with our bodies in reference to legalizing many drugs.
It seems to me that Christianity is a social religion in the sense that we are commanded by Jesus to go forth and make disciples. We've lost that sense of community, and liberalism (little l) has evolved to this idea that personal rights trump all. Both Democrats AND Republicans subscribe to this tradition in varying forms.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/the-imago-dei-and-liberalism-65106/
I really recommend reading the entire thing, but I will pick out a couple key points:
Remember, Christianity, while recognizing the real but limited authority of government, always recognized individual freedom in the context of community; and as community members, individuals had certain responsibilities and live within a defined moral framework.
When you remove that Christian moral framework as modern liberalism does, what do you have left? A situation, as theologian Michael Novak recently explained in a brilliant Weekly Standard Article, where “There is no universal moral law of reason or religion and the value choices of individuals trump everything.”
That’s exactly the thinking behind Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s absurd statement that “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.”
As the article continues on to summarize, you end up with the state being the arbiter between competing personal desires. Al-la the numerous decisions we see in the legal arena and court of public opinion. This is probably most strongly illustrated on the "right" side by Ron Paul, who is on record as stating that we as citizens should be able to do what we want with our bodies in reference to legalizing many drugs.
It seems to me that Christianity is a social religion in the sense that we are commanded by Jesus to go forth and make disciples. We've lost that sense of community, and liberalism (little l) has evolved to this idea that personal rights trump all. Both Democrats AND Republicans subscribe to this tradition in varying forms.