Among Christian conservatives, it is an article of faith that the United States is a Christian nation. (It isn’t, by the way.) Thus, to these conservatives, it is imperative that the laws of the United States reflect Christianity. Therefore, abortion should be outlawed, homosexuals should not be allowed to wed, and teachers should lead children in prayer.

However, those same conservatives, when it comes to Christ’s teaching about charity, believe that government should stay out of it. When it comes to Christ’s teaching about pacifism, never mind that–we have to resist evil by fighting wars. When it comes to rendering unto Caesar, it’s all about lowering taxes, baby. And of course, when it comes to Christ forbidding people to get divorced–well, we all know how prominent Christian conservatives like Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich feel about that.

So which is it, Christian conservatives? If Christian percepts should be placed into law, that means no divorces, taxes are cool, all goods should be shared in common, and we shouldn’t commit any acts of violence–even if our enemy strikes us. You know that Jesus Christ hates it when people pick and choose. So either all law should be based on Christian percepts, or Christians should practice their morality outside the confines of the state. None of this cafeteria stuff.

(Of course, the Religious Left has this same problem in the reverse direction, and although they’re not nearly the same political force that the Religious Right is, I’d put the same challenge to them.)