The cry of popular Christianity today is to take the reins of government and turn the United States into a God-fearing nation. But is such a political feat—were it even possible—the responsibility of flawed humans? Isn't Jesus Christ returning to fix the Earth and its inhabitants, rather than congratulate it on a job well done? If you've wondered why you've generally felt worse rather than better after watching world and national news, here's your answer. At what point are we supposed to resist government—or is there even such a point? Zender's Beyond Politics will at first rock your political boat, but then anchor you to the most peaceful shore imaginable.

"Concerning national defense, I am not so pie-in-the-sky that I think we should write national policy based on trust. I wish that we could, but the eon in which we live is naughty, not nice. It’s a wicked eon (Galatians 1:4), and thus it is naïve for us to think that we can sit down and negotiate with sinister entities. Neville Chamberlain tried that with Hitler, and it did not end so well. We ended up ditching Chamberlain and bombing the crap out of Hitler. In a wicked eon, we need a strong military. I am proud of our soldiers, and thankful for them.

I’m speaking of national policy now, and not the policy of individuals. I am not personally going to chase down evil dictators; I’m afraid I would catch them. But I think it’s good for our armed forces to do so; they want to catch them, and should. We must protect our homeland.

If an evil dictator entered my literal house and threatened my family, I would stab him repeatedly with a screwdriver. (I don’t own a gun. I’m all for gun-owning, I just don’t like loud noises.) An evil dictator striding through my kitchen is a microcosm of an army entering our fair land. It is a natural instinct to protect loved ones as long as it’s not too noisy. And yet an individual believer may choose the path of non-resistance, which is the most excellent path. I’ll be talking about that later—about whether or not we should be subject to evil governments."

(Martin Zender)