Obedience

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

Are we not also responsible for our own sin?
 I do not need someone else to prevent me from sinning by passing laws to force people to be obedient to God.

if I am only obedient because my government forces me to be

am I really obedient
or merely compliant?

If you believe in the Genesis story
you believe that God created everything

including the tree of knowledge

God could have ensured that Adam and Eve would never have sinned

He could have put the tree somewhere else in the universe
He could have built a giant wall around it
He could have made the fruit unappealing

um

He could have NOT created that darn snake

but He did not choose that

He chose to let temptation exist
He chose to allow sin to exist
He chose to create man -- who was capable of disobedience.

when religion and politics get together - we do not make a more godly nation
we make the nation more compliant with doctrine
but we do not make the people more obedient to God's will
the people's hearts do not soften
it does not make us closer to God