So, in researching biblical principles of government, I came up on this page, which had the following list of "biblical" principles:
1. Separation of church (God) and state
2. Separation of money and state
3. Separation of marriage and state. At the time, there were no marriage licenses and everyone got married in their church. Their marriage certificate was the family bible, because that is where they recorded the ceremony.
4. Separation of education and state
[snip – there are more]
As I thought about #3 and 4, I thought that if we had obeyed these principles, we might not have this big argument over gay rights.
I mean, if there was no tax or legal benefit to marriage (possible if all legal benefit came through wills and such, and those without had not a priori benefits), and no other legal/financial implications, then churches could marry anyone to anyone. And if the government was out of education, I could choose whether or not my student was taught promiscuity or abstinence, evolution or creation, religion or secularism.
OK, this is not really practical. But it does make me think – how have we caused ourselves trouble by ignoring biblical principles of government, esp. with respect to marriage and education? I’m not saying public education is a bad thing, or that laws that affect married couples are bad either – just that maybe we’ve gotten the govt too involved in matters that they should not be.
