Politics and religion are supposed to be the two subjects you never talk about in a social setting.
My dad and I have been going round and round about the wiretaps and other activities of our president. And I had this thought about why I still hold many Republican values, but I’m neither a Republican nor a Democrat:
I am pro-life, but I’m ashamed that we do so little to help women in troubled pregnancies. I’m pro small government, but that includes the military. I’m pro giving people every opportunity to succeed, but I recognize that many are enmeshed in a system that keeps them down. I’m pro a true separation of church and state unlike what it has interpreted to be by the courts, but I think it’s wrong to decry the end of Western civilization when the Ten Commandments are forced to be taken down from a courthouse. I believe God created all things, but I don’t see secular Science as a serious threat to my Christian worldview. I believe in the morality of the Bible, but I don’t believe a nation’s laws must reflect all of my moral beliefs. And more importantly, I believe that if all the right laws were in place over night, the Kingdom of God would not be better for it, because God works through grace and not law.
I keep talking about politics and religion, because I believe we must address the issues of our day openly and critically. If we lose face in the sight of the world for righteousness, so be it. But if we lose face for fighting the battles of the Kingdom of God in the political sphere and end up supporting unrighteous things along with the righteous, we shame the God we trust.
The blogosphere is growing, and some of you who read this blog have greater reach than I. All of you have a sphere of influence. You need to not be afraid to tackle politics and religion. If you don’t, the witness of the body of Christ suffers for it.
And I do not mean all agree with me, when I say stand up and let your voice be heard. If the world sees that the Church is a place of critical dialogue and not blind obedience to a political party (which happens in both right- and left-wing segments of the Church), we will at least rid the world of the idea that Evangelicals are just an extension of the Republican Party. And we will rid the Evangelical Church of the idea that all left-wing mainline Christians are just heathen liberals. Now is the time where we must not look the other way when we see wrong. We must speak, and call it what it is.
For all of the difficulty I’m having communicating with my dad over this one, at least he’s consistent. He doesn’t try to go around the fact that the video I posted clearly shows Bush lying. He just feels that deception was necessary for our national security. While I strongly disagree (watch the video again, Bush was using his lies to bolster support for the Patriot Act), I can at least respect that he calls deception deception.
We must have these discussions out in the open, for the world to see. The Church must not allow herself to be pigeonholed into the faction of a political party. Some of us feel strongly about some of the moral issues at hand, but we do not feel legislating morality is the answer. The world needs to hear that, too. The world needs to hear that our answer is in transformed lives by the power of Jesus Christ, not by the power of appointing conservatives to the court, not by electing Christian lawmakers, and not by placing our trust in a Christian president. Our answer is in that through those transformed lives, the sick, the poor, and the oppressed find relief.
Perhaps I more acutely feel the pressure living in Los Angeles, where Christians are by far a minority. But it is not just here in America where our witness hurts. As the most prominent Christian nation, we are under scrutiny around the world. Our political acts affect our brothers and sisters around the world as the faith is discredited abroad.
Judgment begins within the Church, right? It is time to hold those who wave the Christian banner high accountable for actions that have discredited and brought shame on the Church. When he lies, we need to either take my father’s position, that he was doing it for the good of the country, or we need to hold him accountable for his lie. It’s clearly a lie, which was it? This discussion must be had. The world is watching.
Interesting. I posted something today with the same core sentiment. At least, what I see as the core sentiment in what you’ve expressed – the need for Christians to speak out.
I suspect you would disagree with some of my specifics (I’m rather left of you, theologically, I suspect) but not the underlying motivation. Thanks for a thoughtful post.
Dwayne
February 16th, 2006
Shok and I have been going to a weekly group where about 8 of us have been studying Islam. We finished the series this week.
In the final wrap up of the study, the professor on tape classified France and America as secular nations, in comparison to religious governments and nations like Saudi Arabia and Iran, etc.
The group questioned that. We don’t put France and America in the same category on the secular-religious nation continuum.
What do you think, Alan?
tammy
February 17th, 2006
Alan,
I found this through Amber’s blog. I live in central OC, which is not too far from Venice, and as a matter of fact, I used live up near Venice – the Palms area, and went to University High and UCLA.
This is a very well written, and thought-provoking entry about Christians and politics. My thoughts are very similar which corralled into an essay on my blog.
Having towed the conservative Evangelical party line for almost 20 years, I am in the process of shedding most of it. What you say about the evangelical church being an extension of the Republican party is so true, especially here in Orange County which is the hotbed of conservative Evangelicalism and politics, which was why I fled LA and moved to OC.
David Cho
February 17th, 2006