Education Policy

SYNTHESIS PAPER ASSIGNMENT 2

SYNTHESIS PAPER ASSIGNMENT 2

Synthesis Paper Assignment

Treylesia Alston

September 4,2022

Public Policy Analysis PADM550

Dr. Christopher Sharp

Abstract

The United States Constitution's founders integrated various biblical principles, which are still relied upon during judicial and political decision-making. Other opinions uphold that the farther people are driven from God, the more their foundation in Christianity will become. The paper aims to discuss biblical principles' role in governance and policymaking and debate how Christianity, modernism, and postmodernism viewpoints influence these principles. The paper will also investigate what this will mean for the future.

Biblical Concepts

Inalienable Rights

This concept defined the rights important to our personhood and was coined by Thomas Jefferson, the second president of the United States. These alienable rights include the right to liberty, life, and property. According to Jefferson, these rights are inherent to the human being, as provided by Genesis 1:20, which states that God developed this when he granted man control over land, air, and sea. God developed the ten commandments in Exodus 20 to provide man with guidelines to follow. In Acts 10:34, Peter is testifying that God displays no partiality. He used the death of Jesus Christ to show that all men are equal before his eyes. As a result, the government protects these rights to ensure that their people will not be limited to enjoying them because of God (Amos, 1987).

Natural Law

Natural laws are those laws that occur automatically to man as God sets them in place. Thomas Jefferson identified this when he wrote that liberty, life, and the freedom to pursue happiness are the natural laws established by God. He even referenced them to have influenced him when writing down the declaration of independence (Nicgorski, 2011). Therefore, the government should employ natural law to provide an even flow of developed rules and principles.

Institutional Separation of Church and State

This concept has been reflected in the Old Testament and continues even in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, God told Abraham that he would become the father of many nations; he portrayed this in the ten commandments and through other books, including Judges and Deuteronomy. In the New Testament, he refers to Christians as ambassadors of Christ. This indicates that people represent the government which is a foreigner in this Universe (2 Corinthians 5:20, ESV). This makes even more sense in the modern world when governments are dispensing their ambassadors to join other governments across the globe. The book of Romans 13:1-7 defines the foundation that all Christians rely on to develop their opinion about government. God desires to understand that he does not belong in this world, but he remains a subject to this world's leaders for as long as it will not trigger conflicts with their commitment to him. According to God, man will be separated from the world's government through his devotion to him through Christ.

Covenant/Federalism

A covenant refers to the agreement made between two individuals. When it comes to government, a covenant is defined as the distribution of powers envisioned by the United States government. The American constitution is subdivided into three main branches with different powers, referred to as the separation of powers. Every branch is theoretically equal to other branches, and they play the role of checking one another's powers and also deploy a system referred to as balances and checks (Fischer, 2020). For this reason, no branch can be assigned excessive influence and power, minimizing the opportunity of ending up with a tyrannical government.

Sin/Crime Distinction

The US government has the right to prosecute and hinder crimes violating another person's alienable rights. The Church also has a role to play which is to address those sins that are not overturning the laws of man but the body, mind, and soul by the power of God in guidance by the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, this poses many challenges for the Church as they are faced with alterations of policies in the United States (Webber, 2012). The outcome is that what was once viewed as a sin and placed in front of the Church to be solved is supported by few people as these behaviors are becoming acceptable by modern society.

Policy Issue

An example of the policy issue includes the practice of gay marriage in the US, which was prohibited several years ago. However, through the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, the United States supreme court legitimized this marriage, and no executives nor legislative individuals made efforts to stop it (Calabresi, and Begley, 2016). Thus, distorting the line between sin and crime differentiation. The move to ban God from the public sphere by a few Americans appears to be working. Few voices have been left to continue voicing God's intentions as many of them are made that Christ would view it right to marry a person of the same gender. The people in Church and government have continued to feed people with lies which have resulted in to increment in sins.

Key Enumerated Powers of the Government

The government has jurisdiction over executing actions since the constitution empowers it to do so. The constitution empowers leaders to do this because it has been permitted by the people who have acquired authority from God. The US government is divided into the executive, judiciary, and legislative branches. The president is part of the executive, and its role is to enforce the roles proposed by the congress (legislature). The legislature's role is to make laws and is divided into two branches, namely the senate, which is made up of 100 senators, two from every state, and the second one is the representatives. The role of the representatives is to hold meetings and discuss ideas while making decisions that will become laws. The United States has 435 representatives, whose number varies depending on the population of the region, where some states can have only two representatives while others have as many as forty. On the other hand, the judiciary's role is to make constitutional decisions on federal laws and resolve other disputes about the laws.

World Views Comparison

The US is one of the nations that is changing rapidly. The opinion of the postmodern is not dominant, but it speaks the loudest. Postmodern is a relatively confusing term; some believe it means anti-modern, while others view it as a revision of modernist enterprises. Modernism has fallen prey within the political arena of the United States, particularly to the influences of the Church on the so-called religious rights, which have been undermined widely in recent times. The Christian viewpoint, also known as the biblical worldview, is defined as a network of beliefs and ideas through which an individual, culture, or group interacts with the world.

For this reason, the Christian opinion about the world comprises numerous biblical elements. A good example is when people uphold that the election of Donald Trump was a rebuke of the postmodern era by the silent religious majority. The reason for this is that he did not carry the popular votes but carried the electoral votes, leaving the silent majority out of the picture.

References

Amos, G. T. (1987). Biblical Principles of Government: America, A Case Study.  Class materials and readings.

Calabresi, S. G., & Begley, H. M. (2016). Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and Chief Justice John Roberts's Dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges.  Elon L. Rev.,  8, 1.

Fischer, K. J. (2020). Biblical Principles of Government and Criminal Justice.  Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy,  1(1), 3.

Nicgorski, W. (2011). Cicero and the natural law.  The Witherspoon Institute.

Webber, P. M. (2012).  An Examination of the Validity of the American Revolution In the Light of Scripture and English Law (Doctoral dissertation, Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary, Mankato, MN).