Quote Originally Posted by steelish View Post
Another crucial point is that the purpose of the Bible is to point the way to salvation, not to reform society.
I found that to be a very interesting comment. I had never considered that the Bible's only purpose was to show believers how to find their way through the evils of this world without becoming corrupted, and that it had no real intention of eradicating evil at all. I supposed it had a much broader purpose.

All God's laws must now be looked at in this way. Reading Exodus or Deuteronomy, you will find no reference to how society should be governed or how nations should interact; He clearly foresaw that He could leave those tasks to the likes of Marx and Machiavelli. Instead, God chose to point the way for an individual to save his soul, without necessarily even contributing to the society he lives in.

It seems to me, therefore, that governments and other organs of society (the Church?) have no place in God's plans and that He does not endorse any country's nationhood or its constitution, whether written or not. So much for the divine right of kings! Is it appropriate, therefore, for countries to require specific religious observances to be carried out - e.g., a daily act of worship in schools?

(Maybe this part of the thread should be moved to Religion?)