4 - Engaging States

Summary

We should resist the temptation to try to make any state into a Christian state. We should resist the illusion, sometimes encouraged by participation in democratic politics, that we confer legitimate authority on state actors. Joining in the political life of the state is not especially virtuous or fulfilling. We must decline not only to join in but also to will, facilitate, or encourage the unjust violence committed by state war machines and systems of criminal (in)justice. Thus, Christians should advocate a clear delimitation of state war-making to the narrowly self-defensive. Resisting retributive and deterrent violence, they should refuse to endorse or implement capital punishment. Remembering biblical injunctions to welcome strangers, they should resist states’ attempts to limit immigration – partly in recognition of the fact that immigration can enrich the world profoundly. And they should encourage the adoption of policies that will respond effectively to the challenge of global poverty.