I’m just not much of a believer in using the political process to bring about God’s will. Yes, I believe governments are ordained by God. And yes, I believe that God often works through governments to accomplish His will. And yes, I vote my conscience in every election and urge others to do likewise. But I don’t see a lot of good that has come from Christians organizing as a political action group.
Specifically, I think the Republican Party has sold the Christian Right a bill of goods. And I believe the too-close alliance between them has closed many doors to the gospel, while being ineffective in bringing about a more moral society. Here’s how it appears to me. The Republicans observed that evangelical Christians generally vote for pro-life, anti-gay candidates. So, they incorporated those issues into their platform and marketed themselves to us as God’s Own Party (a slightly different take on the initials GOP), as opposed to the “godless Democrats.” Unfortunately, this obscures two realities.
First, there are items on the conservative agenda that are inconsequential from a spiritual standpoint, but some Christians nonetheless treat them as biblical issues. I heard a Christian talk show host recently attack the idea of global warming. He strongly implied that anyone who believed in global warming was a secular humanist, brainwashed by the godless demagogues of the left. Now I admit I haven’t examined the issue closely. I don’t know whether Al Gore is a prophet or a fool. But if anything, biblical teaching leads me to suspect that global warming might be for real. After all, Paul taught in Romans that Creation itself suffers because of humankind’s sin.
The second reality is that, besides abortion and homosexuality, there are plenty of other moral issues with political implications. And I’m with the Democrats on some of them. Social justice and economic justice come to mind. Caring for our environment as stewards of Creation is another.
And while I’m venting here, let me say that the GOP seems willing to fulfill only enough of their promises to keep the Christian Right in their fold. For most of my adult life, I’ve been told that if we elect Republican presidents, they will appoint enough Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe v. Wade. And you know how disappointing the results have been on that. The hard line rhetoric about restoring morality to America flies fast and furious during elections. But afterwards, there’s little will to actually enact legislation on the issues they trumpeted in order to get elected.
I have a sneaking suspicion that genuine disciples of Jesus will either be apolitical, or will hold such an eclectic mix of political views that neither major party would be anxious to claim them.
About Me
- Mark
- Child of God. Currently serving in the roles of husband, father, grandfather, minister, walking Rolodex® of mostly useless information, and private pilot.
6 comments:
I'll think on these things and get back with you, my first thought is "so what is your solution to the problem?" Do we then hand it over to the Dems and let them teach our children that oral sex isn't really sex? Not sure what I believe the answer is either- really wish more true Christians would run for office and be able to make a difference. I'm afraid that the whole of Washington is so corrupt that a full blown turnover is about the only thing that would start a change and allow the "people's" voice to be spoken.
We still need to keep informed on the issues and continue to vote our conscience.
Mark: I also find myself with political positions that don't fit just one camp. What I try to do is prioritize issues as best I can and then look to see where the candidates stand. In addition, even more than stands on issues, I try to assess a candidate's character. Randy Harris had a good set of lessons on patriotism and politics given at Pepperdine if you get a chance to hear them. Hope to see you there this year. God bless, Mark
I'm a little afraid of Christians in public office -- too many times the power just too much temptation. The thing that bothers me about the thought of legislating morality is that it still doesn't touch the heart. America could have the 10 Commandments as the final say in law, and still be a pagan nation. You just can't evangalize by legislation. People don't follow Christ just because they're following the rules. They follow the rules because the love Christ.
Amen!
i find myself more or less in line what everything you said.
more disciples need to think about these thinks instead of blindly following one or the other
Excellent post. Many people recently have spoken as if their view is THE Christian view. There are fine Christian people on just about all sides of the current issues. In my opinion, they all are sometimes right and sometimes wrong, myself included.
The idea of Republicans “hanging their hats” on just a few issues, abortion being one of them, is a theme I am hearing frequently. This idea is the subject of Jim Wallis’ book, God’s Politics. I agree that the Republican Party has taken Christians for granted and has ignored other important issues. But are all issues equal? Abortion is so wrong and has taken such a moral toll on our society that I could not vote for a Pro-Abortion candidate, even if they had other ideas and values that I admired. To me, this issue is not just one of many, like taxes or immigration. There must be some issues to which Christians say, “That is not right!” When you look at the demographics of where the abortion clinics are located and what little children are being aborted, it makes me seriously question the ‘social justice’ aspect of any party that defends abortion.
Jill
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