Thank you, Brittany Jo, for reminding me once again why I'm friends with you. And why I still have the "audacity" to be a flaming, bleeding heart, crazy, bordering-on-Commie, liberal Democrat...and still a Christian.
No, my ethics, morals, and salvation are not compromised. No, I have not disregarded God for the sake of appeasing my own partisan political desires. But instead I am a Christian who happens to live in a country which is governed, not by the Bible (thank God), but by a very-well written (though still fallible) Constitution. No, this Constitution was not somehow "ordained by God." It is just a document written by a bunch of old white men a couple hundred years ago to govern this grand experiment called the United States of America.
Nowhere in the Bible or in this wonderful founding document does it say, "every good Christian should agree upon a couple of political issues." And yet that is what I have been told over and over again throughout the years by my brothers and sisters in Christ. They always use that phrase, too: "a couple issues." As if no one could possibly decipher which two partisan issues are believed to be the essential "Christian" political issues...
Well my Religious Right brethren, I think I've cracked your ingenious code:
- Abortion
- Gay Marriage
Every time one of these two issues is brought up in a Christian setting, and I announce my vehement opposition to the opinions of those around me, my morals, my integrity, and my very salvation are scrutinized and even denounced.
Yes, I am pro-gay marriage. Yes, I am pro-choice.
No, I'm not going to hell because of the preceding statements.
It's not the government's job to go into our bedrooms and tell us whether or not our sexual exploits or even who we choose to love falls in line with their interpretation of Scriptures. Furthermore, Loving v. Virginia makes clear that marriage is a right of every American. These simple facts and the line uttered by my oh-so-brilliant roommate at the beginning of this post make me an ardent supporter of the right of every individual to marry, regardless of sexual orientation.
When it comes to abortion, I am a realist. I recognize that, no matter the legal status of an abortion procedure, women will still have abortions. The only difference will be in the safety and regulation of that procedure. Furthermore, Congress and the states will never get enough support to pass a constitutional amendment which outlaws the procedure nor will the Supreme Court ever overturn its stance on abortion (even the most conservative members of the court respect precedent too much to overturn Roe). So my primary focus will always be on promoting policies which reduce unwanted pregnancy. No, this does not mean abstinence-only education. Quite the opposite, in fact.
But I digress. The Bible does not lay out a political roadmap for Christians to follow. There is only one time which Christ talks about regarding Christians are supposed to interact with the government: "give to Caesar what is Caesar's." He doesn't say, "overthrow Caesar and use his throne to promote my moral code." He doesn't even advise anyone to try and influence Caesar in this direction. He simply says, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's."
Jesus didn't come in as a rider on a white horse overthrowing the Roman empire (despite the desires of the people for a Messiah such as this). He just came as a lowly carpenter-turned-Rabbi who traveled from town to town doing good works and miracles and spreading His message of love for all. To me, that doesn't sound like the rallying cry for any specific American political party.
I can't say for sure that Jesus would have been a Democrat or a Republican. I do believe that Jesus cared deeply for the poor, the needy, the prisoners, and the outcasts. These are the things which lead me to believe that He may have leaned liberal on issues of welfare, crime-policy, and, yes, even gay rights. But I don't know for sure. And I would never claim to know. Jesus never specifically told us what to believe politically or how to vote. He also never said that how we vote must always be directly in-line with our moral/ethical code. All He said was, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's." Take that for what it is, but not for what it is not.
But I digress. The Bible does not lay out a political roadmap for Christians to follow. There is only one time which Christ talks about regarding Christians are supposed to interact with the government: "give to Caesar what is Caesar's." He doesn't say, "overthrow Caesar and use his throne to promote my moral code." He doesn't even advise anyone to try and influence Caesar in this direction. He simply says, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's."
Jesus didn't come in as a rider on a white horse overthrowing the Roman empire (despite the desires of the people for a Messiah such as this). He just came as a lowly carpenter-turned-Rabbi who traveled from town to town doing good works and miracles and spreading His message of love for all. To me, that doesn't sound like the rallying cry for any specific American political party.
I can't say for sure that Jesus would have been a Democrat or a Republican. I do believe that Jesus cared deeply for the poor, the needy, the prisoners, and the outcasts. These are the things which lead me to believe that He may have leaned liberal on issues of welfare, crime-policy, and, yes, even gay rights. But I don't know for sure. And I would never claim to know. Jesus never specifically told us what to believe politically or how to vote. He also never said that how we vote must always be directly in-line with our moral/ethical code. All He said was, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's." Take that for what it is, but not for what it is not.
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