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In God We Don't Trust  /  Chapter 34: What if they had trusted in God  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 4
The chapter lists specific sins it says would not have happened “if the colonists had fully trusted in God” (annihilating Indians, slave trafficking, liquor trafficking, religious persecution, oppression of non-resistant Christians); which of these examples most exposes how “political necessity” can become a moral excuse, and what parallels do you see in how Christians justify wrongdoing today?
Another way to ask: The chapter lists sins it says came from not trusting God (treatment of Indians, slave trading, liquor trading, religious persecution, oppressing non-resistant Christians). Which example best shows how “we had to” can become an excuse to do wrong, and where do you see similar excuses by Christians today?

Direct Answer Bercot’s strongest exposure of “political necessity” as a moral excuse is how Christians harmed other Christians and the vulnerable (Indians and enslaved people) while claiming higher goals; the transcript implies that political ends never justify violating Christ’s commands.

Support from Transcript:

  • He says if they had done things God’s way, settlers wouldn’t have “annihilated the Indians and taken their land,” but would have “paid a fair price” and lived peacefully, like “William Penn's first settlers.”
  • He adds there would have been no “slave trafficking” or “liquor trafficking with the Indians.”
  • He says there would have been “no religious persecution in New England” and “no oppression of non-resistant Christians by the revolutionaries.”
  • He highlights mistreatment of “loyalist Christians who stood by God's laws on submission to the higher powers.”
  • He summarizes the root issue: most colonists showed “politics came before Christianity,” even to the point of killing fellow believers.
Discussion Follow-ups Where do Christians today excuse wrongdoing as “necessary” for security, justice, or influence? How can we tell when a cause is asking us to betray Christ’s teachings?

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