There are two questions I want to put on the table this month. I think the second one is more interesting, but I have to get past the first one in order to discuss the second one.
An often ignored but critically important question that Christians should ponder is to what extent our religious values should shape our political values. For a strangely vocal minority, this question sounds ridiculous. Of course, they would say, your political perspective should be entirely derived from your faith. This is why we must hang the Ten Commandments in every courtroom, and why it would be deeply offensive if we took God out of the pledge of allegiance. After all, isn’t this supposed to be a Christian country?
Because of my location and occupation, I hear this mode of thinking quite often. It drives me crazy. No, this isn’t supposed to be a Christian nation. The founding fathers were Deists, and they worked hard to make sure the nation had freedom of religious expression. Why is it that so many Christians today are working hard to preserve some false sense of a Constantinian state? Why is their religious identity wrapped up so tightly in their national identity? Perhaps I’m cynical, but I don’t really want this to be a Christian nation. Or, to be more precise, I don’t want us to call it a Christian nation. I think doing so is hurts the kingdom of God more than it helps.
In the recent election I heard more discussion about this than usual. People get themselves worked up almost into a frenzy because they are so passionate that the people for whom they vote must represent certain (not all) of their religious values. I’m confused about how a Christian should translate their religious beliefs into political stands. It’s clear to me that there is a limit to this… for example there is no way I would advocate legislation that would illegalize lust, anger, jealousy etc., despite the fact that my religious beliefs say these things are wrong. On the other hand, I believe that I should stand up for certain beliefs (even politically) even though they are religiously motivated (i.e., social justice).
Perhaps a pertinent example would be the debate about an amendment banned same-sex marriage. Let’s say for the sake of argument that Christians decided that this was wrong. Would we necessarily need to oppose such an amendment because of our faith? My inclination is to say no. After all, why should the government dictate morality? The problem is, if another issue came up; say something that would involve showing grace to the poor or some likewise marginalized group of people… I would want to say, yes, all Christians need to support this. Do you see my contradiction?
So the two questions I’d like to hear opinions on are (1) Is this a Christian country, or should it be? And (2) how do we translate religious values into political ones? On what criteria do we base the decision of whether a belief is individual or should be advocated universally?
Christ, History, and Apocalyptic: The Politics of Christian Mission. This book discusses how the church should engage the world, and how it should view history in a Christocentric way.
Outliers. This was given to me, it sounds interesting. He’s evaluating the nature of success. I’m hoping it’s more of a sociological study than a self-help kind of thing.
What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? N.T. Wright is challenging some of my preconceptions about Paul.
