  From reading the previous entry,  you can probably tell that I am dissatisfied with the current state of politics in America.  But,  I really didn’ t give you any clues as to my political leanings.  Don’
t worry,  I really have equal disdain ( and some agreement)  for all political parties and most national candidates.  It’ s hard not to think about politics these days,
 especially for a political hack like myself.  With the presidential election on November 2,  we can look forward to seven months of political positioning ( i. e.  mud slinging,
 spin,  half- truths,  etc.  With all this underhanded game playing,  how do we select one of these people to run our government and make decisions that may seriously affect our future and the world?
 First,  we should not be too concerned with the rhetoric.  Politics are not worse today than they were in the past.  In fact,  a close look at political articles published in the late 1700’ s may even lead us to believe that we are much more civil these days.
 This doesn’ t make the lies acceptable,  but it doesn’ t mean the world has gotten worse either.  Also,  studies show that the primary effect of negative advertising is the suppression of voter turnout.
 So,  the best thing to do in this case is to go out and vote on election day.  Your candidate may not win,  but the goal of the negative candidates will be foiled.  In addition,  how can we have a country governed by the consent of the governed if the citizens leave the decisions to others who do vote?
 We can argue about the role of government,  the responsibility of the individual,  and even the real effectiveness of government.  However,  for me it really comes down to the debate over personal liberty.  I believe personal liberty is and should be the highest value of people when considering the role of government.
 Many of my Christian friends will likely disagree with me on this,  but my primary reason is based on my faith.  Another reason,  nearly as important,  is the basic practicality of the benefits of personal liberty on the community as a whole.  Why is liberty important for a Christian?
 First,  personal liberty is not required to fulfill one’ s role as a Christian,  but it is desirable.  Throughout the New and the Old Testaments there are many references to people in slavery and in prison,  but that did not prevent them from doing God’
s will.  In fact,  it was generally the will of God that was expressed through their lack of freedom.  However,  God’ s grace was shown to them through the granting of freedom.
 Second,  freedom is a theme seen throughout the Old and New Testament.  In the Old Testament,  it is usually mentioned in relation to granting or fighting for freedom of slaves.  However,  the story of Adam and Eve is a great example of freedom and its role in the eyes of God.
 I will come back to that later.  The New Testament more directly addresses freedom and gives warnings to the use of freedom.  In fact,  to know Christ is often referred to as having freedom in Him.  The following verses are important and I will refer to some of them later:  Goodness of Freedom I Corinthians 7:
21 –  “ Were you a slave when God called you?  Don’ t let it trouble you –  although if you can gain your freedom,
 do so.  I Corinthians 7: 23 –  “ You were bought at a price;  do not become slaves to men.
 II Corinthians 3: 17 –  “ Now the Lord is the Spirit,  and where the Spirit of the Lord is,  there is freedom.
 James 1: 25 –  “ But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,  and continues to do this,  not forgetting what he has heard,
 but doing it –  he will be blessed in what he does.  Warning about freedom I Corinthians 8: 9 –  “ Be careful,
 however,  that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.  Galatians 5: 13 –  “ You,
 my brothers,  were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature;  rather,  serve one another in love.  I Peter 2:
16 –  “ Live as free men,  but do not use your freedom as a cover- up for evil;  live as servants of God.
 These are not all of the verses about freedom.  Some others are irrelevant to this conversation and others will be brought up later.  From the beginning,  God gave us free will.  Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden were free to choose to obey God or to eat the forbidden fruit.  Many theologians hypothesize that it was always the intent of God that man would eat the fruit.
 Regardless,  this sin has put mankind in the bondage of sin.  In fact,  I might even argue that mankind was in bondage prior to the “ original sin”  and the “
fall”  was God’ s will to allow us to reach true freedom.  You may not agree,  but keep reading.  it is through Christ that man can become completely free.
 In spite of this,  we have always been given the opportunity to choose.  God has endowed us with free will.  We can choose God,  or we can choose evil.  We can choose to believe or we can refuse to believe.
 Regardless of our choice,  it is God’ s plan that we have the freedom do decide for ourselves.  Romans 8: 20- 21 reads,
 “ For the creation was subjected to frustration,  not by its own choice,  but by the will of the one who subjected it,  in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.  Now,
 let’ s look at what government is.  First,  Government is the only legitimate use of force on earth.  Ultimately,  God has all the power,
 but on earth,  governments are endowed as the ultimate arbiter of power.  Anything that government does is done through force or the threat of force.  Is this bad?  Yes!  Is it necessary?
 Yes!  That is why some people refer to government as a necessary evil.  Obviously,  we need government.  We need a police force to enforce laws prohibiting crimes,  such as murder and rape.
 We also need government to serve as an independent arbitrator to resolve disputes between two parties.  That’ s what civil courts are about.  We also,  need government to form a military to protect and defend the citizens of the country.  These are pretty basic purposes of government and almost everyone would agree with me on this.
 But what is the role of government beyond this?  Does government have a role beyond the basic perseverance of rights?  I say no!  Personal liberty is akin to freedom of conscience.  Not only do I believe that God wants us to have the freedom to make our own decisions,  I believe we need these freedoms to fully live as Christians.
 But should government be involved in the providing for those who cannot provide for themselves?  Again,  I say no!  When we depend on government to do things for us,  we become weak.  For example,
 when government gets involved in charity,  we get lazy and depend on government to fill a role that we as Christians should fill.  The bible tells us that we are our brothers’  keepers,  but we should not pawn that responsibility off on others,  even if we are paying for it through taxes.
 My biggest fear is that people will miss the grace of God because we are substituting God’ s grace for our own.  We are showing people that they do not need to depend on God,  they can depend on us and our government.  It is only through the freedom that we are forced to seek God and not to depend on government,  a false idol.
 I am really cutting this short now because this has taken too long and few will read it anyway.  I will address the practical needs for more personal freedom in the next few days and may address specific issues.  For now,  I will end with this verse:  Galatians 5: 1 –
 “ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm,  then,  and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yolk of slavery.
