Ethics

Q What’s wrong with imposing Christian morality on our society? God’s laws are right and good for all. Should we let political correctness stop us?

A God’s ethical laws are indeed right and good for all. However, the separation of church and state in the U.S. and Canada means we must avoid crossing the line into imposing our religion on others. The state must not promote one religion over others or jeopardize freedom of conscience and religious freedom, including Christian religious freedom.

Since it is never easy to divorce Christian morality from its religious roots, this should give us pause and make us tread carefully.

The answer is not either/or: either we impose our morality or compel others by legislating it, or we withdraw and keep our convictions private. Apart from imposing our morality or being indifferent, we can exert influence on society by educating, encouraging, building awareness, and persuading. Such influence can help us achieve the same goal while leaving people’s freedom intact. Christians can do a lot of good without resorting to coercive measures.

God’s commands to do justice (Micah 6:8), to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31), and to do to others as we would have them do to us (Matt. 7:12) should make us avoid coercing others into a morality they have not embraced.

There may possibly be issues and occasions where either legislation or indifference is appropriate. But since the former can deny people the respect and freedom they deserve as God’s imagebearers, we should resort to it only carefully and rarely.