CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS
By Dave Haigler[1]
& Amy Perez[2]
– Sept. 2, 2004
(on the web at: http://www.haigler.info/Christianity%20&%20Politics-Haigler%20&%20Perez-040705.htm)
We are often asked, “How can a Christian be a Democrat?” The question
assumes that one party can be shown to be more Christian than another, or that
one party is the “Christian” party.
First of all, we are aware of only one instance in world history of a political
party that tried to be distinctively Christian in terms of Biblical principles
of civil government (as distinguished from merely having “Christian” in the
party name), and that distinctively-Christian party was the “Anti-Revolutionary
Party” of Abraham Kuyper, who was the premier of the Netherlands for one term
from 1901-1905, and such a goal is not something that either major party in the
U.S. has ever significantly tried to emulate. A succinct statement of the
Christian political significance of Kuyper can be found at: http://www.opc.org/new_horizons/NH99/NH9901d.html.
Secondly, the attempt to argue that one is more Christian than another suffers
from two significant risks: (a) spiritual pride; and (b) focusing on a
few, high-profile, emotionally-charged issues to the neglect of broader ethical
concerns based on the teachings of Christ.
The issue of spiritual pride reminds us of the proud Pharisee who prayed to God
thanking God he was better than others and was not like the wicked Publican on
the opposite side of the synagogue. So we will try to deal with these
issues without repeating the Pharisee’s error.
The issue of being too selective of the issues is illustrated by people who
claim the Republican Party is more godly because of their favorite 4 Gs:
(a) God; (b) guns (c) gays and (d) greed.
For example, some say the Republican Party is pro-life and the Democrats are
“baby killers.” To answer that, we will simply say that the Republicans
have had 31 years to reverse Roe v. Wade and outlaw abortion again, but they
have not, and we submit they have no intention of doing so. They are in
control of all 3 branches of the federal government and have shown no movement
to outlaw abortion again. Yet they are nominally “pro-life.” The
reason is that they learned 24 years ago under Reagan that they could cede the
platform to the religious right and let the so-called moderates remain in
control of the money and the candidates. They are thus double-minded and
dishonest on the issue of abortion. Take a hint from the fact that ever
since the pro-life plank has been in the Republican platform, all three of the
Republican First Ladies have been pro-choice.
By contrast in platform at least, the Democratic Party platform is pro-choice,
although 43% of Democrats are pro-life, according to Democrats for Life.
We are a part of this 43%, but still supportive of a woman’s right to choose,
as we have to admit that reproductive choices will continue to be made by
individual women, and anyone who denies that truth has not clued in from
significant relational experience.
So the real political choice for those who deplore abortion is to either:
(a) stand in the non-moving line of Republicans who say they want to outlaw
abortion, or (b) admit neither party intends to outlaw abortion, join the one
who’s honest about it, and continue to work in our churches and community
organizations to influence decisions that make abortion increasingly rare.
As for guns, we defy anyone to show me in their Bible that the Christian
position is either to own weapons or not to own weapons.
As for gays, we submit the Republican Party has no serious intention of passing
a constitutional amendment passed defining marriage as exclusively
heterosexual, and that all polls indicate that such an amendment has no chance
of passing 2/3rds of either house of congress or 3/4ths of the states necessary
for passage. So the only remaining purpose of such a proposal is a
hypocritical one of playing to the peanut gallery of popular opinion, like
their hypocritical “pro-life” plank has been for 24 years. Moreover,
there is not a dime’s worth of difference between Bush’s position and Kerry’s
on gay marriage – both oppose gay marriage but support civil unions. We
believe that the president’s ploy on this constitutional amendment proposal was
to create an issue where there was none – pandering to religious people who
have no discernment of the futility of really enacting the proposal. All
this has done is stir up bad feelings against gays and lesbians, as if their 5
or 10% of the population will corrupt the rest of us. To those who
think so, we ask this simple question – whether you agree with the gay
lifestyle or not, which is worse for public health and morality, having them
cruise the gay bars promiscuously and passing on AIDS, or having them at home
with a stable partner in a committed relationship? Remember, those of you
who say such a relationship violates God’s law, the Supreme Court of this
country has struck down laws against sodomy. If you cannot put them in
jail for it, why do you want to deny them a committed relationship for
it?
And, again for those who say this violates God’s law, why are you not focusing
on sharing God’s love and the gospel of Jesus Christ with them and enabling
them to come out of this lifestyle you hate so badly, instead of harassing them
with legal constraints? We would remind you of one more thing from your
Bible – Jesus Christ, your Savior and ours, never said a word about passing a
single government law while he walked on earth. Not a word.
And those who taunted Him to question the authorities got answers like, “Render
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are
God’s.”
And if you still think Bush & Cheney are serious about this constitutional
amendment outlawing gay marriage, why do you think Cheney’s lesbian daughter is
working so hard to get them re-elected? Wake up and see the
hypocrisy.
As for greed, this could be a book in itself. The objectives of the Democratic
Party and the ministry of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible have a lot in
common. Christ taught that we must care for our neighbors, help the less
fortunate, and open ourselves to those who are different. He reached out to the
weak, the meager, the sick, the hungry, the sinner, and He helped them. Philippians 2:5 reads, "Your
attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had." 1 Peter 3:8
says, "all of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each
other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds."
Likewise, the focus of the Democratic Party is to reach out to those in need,
those that are different, those who are oppressed, those that struggle, and
those who are ill.
For example, President Franklin Roosevelt, in 1933, was able to get passed some
great legislation to help the needy in
President Harry Truman promoted his Fair Deal program in which he expanded
reforms in the areas of civil rights, housing, education, and health care.
Under President Kennedy, the promise of the New Frontier brought hope to the
hopeless as he launched a substantial assault on the problems of racism and
poverty.
Under President Lyndon Johnson, Democrats in 1964 passed the Economic
Opportunity Act, which created programs for the disadvantaged such as Head
Start,
President Johnson also successfully promoted the Voting Rights Act, the
Department of Housing and Urban Development Act, the National Arts and
Humanities Act, Higher Education Act, National Housing Act, etc., which all
promote the fundamental belief in helping those who need assistance and to do
what is morally right and just.
The Democratic Party stands up for the same people Jesus Christ reached out
to. We do not cater to the privileged nor say that if you're poor, it's
your own fault. The Bible says in James
2:9, "If you pay special attention to the rich, you are committing a
sin." Why? Because that is the exact opposite of Jesus'
ministry.
The Democratic Party believes that balancing the nation's budget and paying off
the national debt is a vital responsibility that cannot be ignored. The current
Bush Administration has taken the biggest federal surplus since before WWII and
turned it into the biggest deficit in American history -- over $500
billion. We owe it to future generations to put a stop to this outrageous
deficit spending and bring balance back to
The Bible says a lot about irresponsible debt. How dare the Republicans
claim they are more Christian while they hock our children’s future, compared
to Democrats who are begging our Congress to pay as you go?
That is the platform of the Democratic Party; and those are our fundamental
beliefs. If we are wrong in standing up for these truths, if we are wrong
in fighting greed, corruption, and special interests, and if we're wrong when
we fight against poverty and abuse, then we are wrong when we call ourselves
Americans, and we're wrong when we call ourselves Christians.
So we are not ashamed to answer those who question our Christian beliefs along
with our membership in the Democratic Party, because we are proud to be working
as Democrats for the same causes Jesus promoted.
Christian is as Christian does. Faith without good works is dead.
We as Christians need to walk the talk, not just talk the talk. Or as
some put it, back your yack.
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[1] Dave
Haigler, an
[2] Amy
Perez of