The True ChurchThe true church should be humble, not domineering.
The true church should teach, not insist or demand. It should appeal to the senses of a person, not to the law that binds him.
It should seek to influence mankind to do good instead of eliminate any form of imaginable sin.
When the laws of the state are so strict that it is illegal to choose and immoral to think individually, then it is definitely not a time when man is truly free.
The true church of Christ will not offer choice as one of the the greatest gifts while at the same time working to wield political powers as guidelines with human punishment for every conceivable offense.
No segment of a true church would seek to rule over a man's life. To do so would be the opposite of free agency. Which is not to say that there can not be laws to keep people form violating others, but to say that actions that do not harm others are up to the individual (this should not lead to the argument that alcohol; for example, leads to drunkenness and therefore should be illegal).
It is not the way of the divine to reach down and force a path of righteousness else the world would have been designed with guard rails around every turn and danger.
If life is a test then I feel as though too many church's are attempting to provide a skewed version of a cheat sheet. Religion for dummies. Crutches for the needy and, oh yeah, you are all sinners and needy. My way or the highway. Hence the countless variations of interpretations of the scriptures. Book of Mormon, Holy Bible, Koran, etc. and the factions thereof.
It is wrong for you to consider it your place to save your fellow man, kicking and screaming, from himself.
Wouldn't Jesus consider the laws of God being there as personal guideposts instead of a rule book in the hands of 'Holy Police Task Forces'? These guidelines were given to be followed by choice and not by force. How else would the real metal of a man be tested? If you are bound by men into compliance with spirit law, how can your true spiritual compass be tested, be read, be learned, and perfected?
The true Church of Christ would never, in my eyes, finds the words to inspire or advise a man of the direction he should seek. Furthermore it would never seek to arrest or fine him for making a mistake.
If you see no flaw with the idea of having spiritual laws being common and controlled by man (hence subject to each enforcers interpretation???) then you should make no claim that it is Gods place to judge the measure of a mans spirit and mans place to strive for good.
Have I prayed? Yes I have. Does your conviction give you authority over me?
Would Jesus have spoken of repentance if instead he wanted armed officials beating down the doors of the unholy? Perhaps his twelve apostles were inept at law enforcement?
It is believed that teaching by example is better than teaching by negative reinforcement. In the same sense, being a shepherd of men should not be guiding by gavel but rather by cautious eyes and thoughtful instruction.
So it is true, and has always been so, that the greatest offense to the spiritual growth of mankind, is the rule of man over other men. Again, reminding that it IS in the power of mankind to enforce just laws that involve the clear violations of unalienable rights.
Anyone with any political power should work to reduce the ever-growing list of laws that rule mankind over mankind, whether they be petty or complex and bizarre.
After some thought and realization it is clear that much of what the modern political structure does is to take turns enforcing rules to satisfy one groups wish to control another groups lives.
Separation of church and state should go both ways. We should not allow the government to sanction one church (or religious action) over another. Nor should anyone's right to choose religious practices be subject to popular consent, UNLESS the actions of a person/group harm others or their rights.
Secular laws govern our interactions, spiritual laws guide us one by one above the baseline set out by political protection of God given rights.
