by: Allen Domelle
Governor Mike Huckabee responded to a question concerning the NSA bulk phone data collection program on Fox News by saying, “We are not a nation of feelings.” At first I thought this response would give ammunition to his critics, but he completed his thought as I continued to listen to the interview. He said that America is a nation of laws. America is supposed to be a nation of right and wrong dictated by the US Constitution and the collection of data would be constitutionally wrong without a warrant.
Unfortunately, we seem to have become a nation that decides what we are going to do based off feelings. The abortion battle is mainly based off the feeling that a woman has a right to do with her body what she wants with no consideration of the life that was conceived at conception. Some in this battle don’t take into consideration that the 5th and 14th Amendment of the Constitution protects anyone from being “deprived of life.”
The universal healthcare battle is largely based off the feelings that everyone deserves healthcare. This sounds and feels good, but it doesn’t take into consideration that Congress only has the authority to “regulate commerce” and not mandate commerce.
The marriage battle has sadly become a battle of feelings. Many are trying to say that same sex partners should have the same rights as those who are married. They try to play to the feelings of the American people by shaming them into accepting that sodomites were born that way which is in direct contradiction to the Word of God. First, God, not government, instituted marriage. God made it very clear that marriage is between a man and woman. Second, homosexuality is not a gender, it’s a wicked lifestyle. Same sex marriage would not even be a consideration if we chose to follow God’s Word and not man’s feelings.
Politicians set their platforms by how it affects the feelings of the voter instead of what the Constitution dictates. They promise things in their campaigns that constitutionally cannot be given. They do this because they try to legislate off feelings and not by law.
Most of this current attack against the police forces nationwide is based off the feeling that police are prejudiced against blacks which is totally false. Most police personnel are law abiding citizens who are trying to keep the communities in which they live safe from criminals. If the Justice Department would stop inciting the feelings of race and let each case be judged by law, then none of the recent riots would have happened.
The problem with making feelings the guide for what a nation does is that feelings change. What feels right today will not feel right tomorrow. Feelings are at the core of all injustice. If America continues down the road of making laws based off feelings, then she will cease to be a free nation. Freedom can only endure when nations follow the rule of law and not the dictate of feelings.
I’m reminded of a story in the Scriptures when a man based his decisions off feelings. Isaac wanted to give the birthright to Esau. When Rebekah heard what Isaac was going to do, she conceived a plan to have Jacob deceive his father so he could get the birthright. Jacob was concerned that his father would know he was being deceived because Esau was a hairy man and Jacob was not.
In order to deceive Isaac, Jacob’s mother had him dress in Esau’s clothing and put goat skins on his neck, hands and arms. When Isaac felt that he was being deceived, instead of basing his decision on what he knew was right, he depended upon his feelings. Genesis 27:22 says, “And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” Because he based his decision off feelings, he gave the birthright to the wrong son.
America will give away its “birthright” of God’s blessings if it continues to make decisions off feelings. The President and our country’s lawmakers cannot make laws just because they feel good, but they must make and enforce laws based according to our Constitution. We are a nation of laws, and when we cease to be a nation of laws then we will cease to be a free nation. Freedom will only continue as long as we allow our laws to rule us and not our feelings.
Let me take this further into our churches. If pastors start basing what they do off feelings, then they will cease to stand for truth. What God’s Word tells us to do is not always going to feel good. Many youth today want to feel Christianity, but you don’t feel Christianity you live Christianity.
When I go to the doctor, I don’t want the doctor to make me feel good, I want the doctor to prescribe what he knows will make me healthy. Just because the atmosphere in the doctors office might feel good doesn’t mean that the doctor is good. Sometimes, the best doctors are not always going to have the best personality, but you don’t go to the doctor to have him pat you on the back and tell you how good you are. You go to the doctor so they can help you to get well.
When people change church so that it will make them feel good, then they will forsake the preachers who tell the truth which contributes to living a happy and joyful life. Certainly, we should do our best not to run people off, but just because something doesn’t always feel good doesn’t mean that it is wrong. Good feelings are the result of doing right. It doesn’t always feel good to make yourself go soul winning, but it feels good when you see someone get saved. It doesn’t always feel good to get up every Saturday to go visit your bus route, but it feels good when you see a bus kid turn out for God and serve Him as an adult. It doesn’t always feel good to live a separated life through biblical standards, but it feels good to keep a strong marriage and have children who are pure when they get married.
Feelings cannot be what you seek after in Christianity. I’m afraid too many in the younger generation have unjustly condemned those from the past as not having services where God moves. We like the results of God’s moving in the past, but don’t discount what they did just because you don’t think how they did something “felt good.” You are supposed to do right because it’s right to do and not because it feels good.
If our nation is going to continue to be great, then we must get back to being a nation of laws and base all actions and decisions off those laws. If churches are going to continue to be great, then they must be a church that bases all actions, methods and decisions on God’s Word. Culture and feelings cannot be the basis for our decisions. If you base what you do off feelings, you will end up giving your birthright to another.
Allen Domelle is the editor of the Old Paths Journal which is more than just a Christian’s publication. It is an excellent place to learn how today’s headlines will forge tomorrow’s laws and statutes. Keep yourself in tune with what is happening around the world, as well as in your own backyard with our daily updates and devotionals.