politically charged

i've been feeling a bit charged over the past few days... there is nothing in particular that is causing me to wrestle with some of these issues- at least, not some kind of current event. I have been reading a few things recently that have been giving me the desire to read more about them and wrestle with them.

what i'm dealing with right now is politics. A few weeks ago, i was looking through Keith Drury's website and came across THIS article of his regarding Can Christians vote for democrats. 5 or 6 years ago before moving away from northern Maine, going to college and experiencing a more diverse cross-section of the Christian faith, I would have argued against that possibility. As a matter of fact, I seem to remember going to the Rec Center in Presque Isle and voting Republican right down the line. What a responsible thing for me to do- not concern myself with any issues or a person's stance.

Back to the subject at hand, however, I also read an article a few weeks ago passed along to me by a friend. It was in the NY times and is in yesterday's blog about my new reading list- or at least, a link to it is there. And i recieved the two books listed there, as well, from Amazon and began reading eagerly.

Let me just be blunt- i'm getting quite tired of watching other Christians around me blindly following a leader, a political agenda or a political party. I was talking with another Christian a few months ago- a very politically conservative- about politics one time. I got to mentioning how I find myself in line with the Repulican party on what many consider to be "moral" issues- particularly, abortion and homosexuality. But the last time I voted in Maine, I voted for the democratic candidate for governor. Because I thought he had a better platform on issues regarding education and the environment- and beyond that, he is a devout Catholic, so unless he divided himself from the Catholic Church, I knew where he stood on abortion and homosexuality. Beyond that, the republican candidate was NOT a Christian, might as well have been an atheist for as much as he referenced any kind of deity.

The person I was speaking with and told these things to said it seemed like it should have been better to vote for the democrat, except that supporting that candidate would help to push forward the democrat's platform that included keeping abortion legal and marriages for homosexuals. I would presume that means this person just votes republican because he supports that party.

This has bothered me. I guess if that person wholeheartedly agrees with the republican stance on their issues, then he should feel free to support them. But I'm not sure that I do. And I'm not sure that the Bible does, either. However- we find ourselves at this place where the Chruch in north America seems to be in support of the Republican party. I've heard it preached from the pulpit, i've read "voter's guides" which go just short of saying "vote for the republican".

Conservative Christians seem to believe that getting republicans elected will somehow help the Church out. It will give us a more "moral" person or at least a better platoform toward Christianity. But what we fail to realize is that the republican party only cares about Christians because it wants their votes!!! It caters to conservative Christians on the "big" issues for votes!!!

There are more issues that Christians need to think about the Biblical standard for when thinking about politics. They should consider the environment, the Biblical stance on war and peace, the death penalty, caring for the poor, and education- just to name a few things off the top of my head.

It seems to me that somewhere along the way, Christians were convinced, whether due to a VERY convincing argument or because they lacked the initiative to chase down answers for themselves, that the Republican party is the Christian party. And I know what it is like to be one of those. The problem is that instead of the Church being a voice of conscience against any and all things that need to be changed, it has become a pawn of the Republican party. it is NOT the Christian party- even though most evangelical Christians support this party, to have a political party that is religiously defined is detrimental. And there are many who are republicans who are NOT Christians. Just as there are Christian democrats. To line up Christian faith with one political party or the other would be to uphold certain parts of the Bible (our source for belief) and deny other parts.

I honestly do not think that the Church is place to support politics, make pleas for "moral" politicians or anything like that. If the Church too closely allies itslef with one party or another, it begins to lose its integrity, and thus, our witness. Church needs to be the place that teaches the Bible and disciples are grown. And when growing mature disciples, those people will be capable to make their own decisions of what they believe and how they vote regarding ALL issues and not simply two or three that seem to be the major issues.