Ayatollahs on the Prairie? &#0151 Theocracy and Secular Hysteria

In recent months, an epidemic of anti-Christian books has erupted, viciously attacking the faithful as "theocrats" and "fascists." Conservative Christians are called evangelical mullahs, intent on replacing the government with our own "religion-soaked political regimes," as one overheated author put it.

Good gracious! Is America really about to fall into the hands of a diabolical Christian Taliban?

Of course not. It's a false and malicious charge, and our critics know it. I know of not one Christian leader, theologian, or scholar who wants to impose a theocracy — that is, the Church running the state — because the notion is entirely contrary to Christian faith.

At the heart of Christianity is the concept of free will. We can choose good and evil. Freedom is a God-given right. This is why right-thinking Christians oppose a system of government that would force citizens to accept faith in Christ, or any religion, as a condition of citizenship. And it's why — secular hysterics not withstanding — there are no Christian theocracies anywhere in the world today. There are plenty of Islamic theocracies, but not one Christian theocracy.

This is not to say that over the centuries Christians haven't tried to impose their values at times, which in the Middle Ages produced bloody crusades and inquisitions.

And we see some of this utopian thinking today, on the fringes. It crops up in contemporary Christian circles from left-leaning Catholics, to mainline leaders, to evangelicals. Some want to impose actual religious values by force of law. They are called reconstuctionists, or Dominionists, and they are wrong, both theologically and politically.

Of course, reconstuctionists, who espouse the idea of building a literal Christian society as opposed to working within the system to try to change politics, represent a small fringe group which is, as Ross Douquet notes in First Things, about as politically influential as the Spartacist Youth League.

Even if Christians advocating dominion gained power, they would be doomed to failure. As Martin Luther once wrote, "It is out of the question that there should be a Christian government even over one land…since the wicked always outnumber the good. Hence a man who would venture to govern…with the gospel would be like a shepherd who should place in one fold wolves, lions, eagles and sheep together and let them freely mingle."

But while the Church must avoid utopianism and diversion from its transcendent mission, it is not to ignore the political scene. To the contrary, Christians have a duty to advance the cause of justice and human good within the democratic system, as William Wilberforce did in his battle to eliminate the British slave trade.

America has drifted far from the vision of its founders. But our form of government, with its unique church-state relationship that respects the roles of each, continues to offer the world's most hopeful model in an otherwise contentious history of conflict.

This is why Christians need to defend against the ludicrous charges of theocracy. You can help your neighbors understand these issues. I've written about them at length in my new book, God and Government.