Exhibit A: Jesus Christ

God did not create the political struggle that crucified Jesus Christ.

Human beings did.

God’s commandments tell us not to kill.
Christ called for peace, mercy, forgiveness, and love—even toward our enemies.

Yet human beings mixed religious authority with political authority. Accusation became prosecution. Political power supplied the sentence. Rome supplied the cross.

That distinction matters.

Religion is not God.
A religious institution is administered by human beings.
A government is administered by human beings.
And human beings remain accountable for what they choose to do with authority.

When faith becomes a political weapon, we should not blame God for the weapon people created from it.

God gave humanity agency.

Human beings choose whether to use that agency to love, forgive, protect, fight, condemn, control, or kill.

That is why freedom of religion and freedom of conscience matter. Government should not dictate our relationship with God, and religious authority should not become a substitute for the political agency of the people.

We the People remain responsible for what We the People choose to do.

Politics did not make the Crucifixion righteous simply because government authorized it.

Religious accusation did not make the Crucifixion righteous simply because religious leaders participated in it.

And neither should be confused with the will of God merely because human beings invoked God while exercising human power.

Exhibit A: Jesus Christ.