Politics does not the Christian make

First off, my apologies to my faithful readers for not posting in so long. Frankly, there weren't any religion subjects in the news this past week that got me fired up enough to write a post: you know I just don't want to post nonsense just to post, as I don't think you're enlightened by it or prodded to think about your own positions on certain issues. Anyway, I wasn't holding out much hope for this week either until I caught this interesting little doozy. Check this out:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/25/AR2006082501640.html

While I appreciate Katherine Harris' passion for God, I'm just a tiny bit (well more than a tiny bit) concerned about some of the statements she was quoted as saying in the name of the God of Christianity.

One of those statements is something to the effect of: if you're not electing Christians then you're legislating sin. So I suppose my question is this: Does Katherine Harris contend that Christians are above sin? While Christians may have the guidance of the Holy Spirit into a holier life, Christians are far from perfect and sinless. Believe me, I'm a Christian and I can vouch personally for that statement. And I personally know many others would say the same about themselves. Yeah, yeah, I understand Harris is talking in the context of legislating abortion and gay marriage. But, it seems like the implication is the same and can be taken by a seeker or skeptic that Christians think they're perfect. I'll go back to my same 'ol song and dance that I think you've already gathered from my other posts: A Christian, as you'll remember, will be known by her fruit - patience, kindness, longsuffering, love and so on - not whether or not you "vote Christian." Politics does not the Christian make.

So, the other concern I have regarding some of Katherine Harris' remarks concerns her thought that God did not intend the U.S. to be a "nation of secular laws." Well, seriously, I'm not sure he intended any nation to be one of secular laws. Maybe he originally intended for there to be a theocracy among all of the people he created. But through our own free will, we chose to govern ourselves instead. And so I have to wonder why we should be surprised that our country, or any country around the world, is not "legislating sin," as this legislator puts it. Every last one of us on this particular rock are fallen (Christians too) - why should we be surprised about our own depravity, about our want for what's best for our own interests, to do what makes us happy instead of putting ourselves last.

And, in a fallen world where God - forever the gentleman who never, ever forces himself on anyone - created people with free will, I wonder why we should not think that our fallen selves would push for separation of church and state? This may seem foreign to some of you out there, but to me the democracy is one of the few outward expressions in this world of God's gentlemanly ways. The democracy - done correctly - never forces people to say what it wants, never forces people to believe what it wants. Separation of church and state? You betcha! I'm all for it - why? Because this nation is quickly becoming one that is a mixed pot of all religions. And if we Christians try to force our own agendas into the government by mixing church and state, that means that some other majority religious group in the future could follow our lead and our example, forcing their own beliefs on us Christians. What scares me about that is most other religious traditions in the world don't have a gentlemany attitude in terms of how God acts toward his people. Instead, many other religious traditions want to force you into their way of thinking. When and if that happens, we Christians won't be screaming, "No separation of church and state!" anymore. We'll likely be screaming, louder than anyone: "Separation of church and state!"