Is the church too political?
April 6th 2008 03:45
People think the church is too political. Studies of how people view the church generally show that a large majority think it is too political. Books that look at why people don’t like the church will usually have this as one of the main reasons. I can understand why. I too believe that the church is too political. In fact, around Australian election time last year, I actually left the church for a short period of time. One of my main reasons for doing so was that the church was too political.
But what do we mean by the term too political? Too political could mean different things to different people. How political is too political? Should faith and politics never be mixed at all?
I can’t presume to speak for all the many other people that think the church is too political, but what I can do is speak for myself. When I say that the church is too political, I am talking about the way the church promotes one political party and makes it almost a Christian duty to vote for such a party.
In Australia, the Christian party of choice (at least in my church) was the Liberal Party. Although we were never told we had to vote for this party, it was made pretty clear that this was the way for all good Christians to go. My pastor made frequent reference to the fact that, as a good Christian, he believed that the Liberal Party was the best party. Jokes were made about the Labor party in sermons – and what would happen to Australia if they were voted in. Emails were printed out and posted on the notice board discussing the Labor Party and how the individuals in that party were not suited to lead our country. It was made very, very clear that the Liberal Party was the Christian party of choice.
Now perhaps this would not have annoyed me quite so badly if I was a Liberal voter. But I’m not. I voted Labor. To some people, this would suggest that I do not let my faith influence the way I vote or that I had not thought carefully enough about the issues that should be important to Christians. In fact, I do let my faith influence my vote and I did think very carefully about how each party addresses Christian issues. It’s just that I have a different ideas of the type of issues that should be important to Christians.
I don’t want to go into a lengthy piece about why I, as a Christian, voted for the Labor Party. To cut a long story short, I believe that issues of social justice are more important than issues of morality. Yes, perhaps the Liberal party placed more emphasis on morality issues than the Labor party. But the Labor party, to me, seemed to place more emphasis on social justice.
Now that is my personal opinion. I certainly would never suggest that any good Christian should vote Labor because they seem to place more emphasis on social justice. But by the same token, I don’t expect people to suggest that any good Christian should vote Liberal because they place more emphasis on issues of morality. When I say that the church is too political, I am specifically talking about this attempt to push one political party as the Christian party of choice.
My faith does affect the way I vote. And perhaps that in itself is making the church too political. I have heard it said that Christian values should not influence anything to do with politics. Politicians should leave their faith completely out of government. I disagree. Because my faith is important to me, it cannot help but influence my political views. If I was a politician, it would influence the way I performed in that role.
But I believe the church needs to realise that Christian values and politics are complicated things. People can vote one way because of Christian values and another one can vote another way because of Christian values. We should give people the freedom to consider what issues are important to them, whether or not it is influenced by their Christian faith, and vote in an appropriate way.
But what do we mean by the term too political? Too political could mean different things to different people. How political is too political? Should faith and politics never be mixed at all?
I can’t presume to speak for all the many other people that think the church is too political, but what I can do is speak for myself. When I say that the church is too political, I am talking about the way the church promotes one political party and makes it almost a Christian duty to vote for such a party.
In Australia, the Christian party of choice (at least in my church) was the Liberal Party. Although we were never told we had to vote for this party, it was made pretty clear that this was the way for all good Christians to go. My pastor made frequent reference to the fact that, as a good Christian, he believed that the Liberal Party was the best party. Jokes were made about the Labor party in sermons – and what would happen to Australia if they were voted in. Emails were printed out and posted on the notice board discussing the Labor Party and how the individuals in that party were not suited to lead our country. It was made very, very clear that the Liberal Party was the Christian party of choice.
Now perhaps this would not have annoyed me quite so badly if I was a Liberal voter. But I’m not. I voted Labor. To some people, this would suggest that I do not let my faith influence the way I vote or that I had not thought carefully enough about the issues that should be important to Christians. In fact, I do let my faith influence my vote and I did think very carefully about how each party addresses Christian issues. It’s just that I have a different ideas of the type of issues that should be important to Christians.
I don’t want to go into a lengthy piece about why I, as a Christian, voted for the Labor Party. To cut a long story short, I believe that issues of social justice are more important than issues of morality. Yes, perhaps the Liberal party placed more emphasis on morality issues than the Labor party. But the Labor party, to me, seemed to place more emphasis on social justice.
Now that is my personal opinion. I certainly would never suggest that any good Christian should vote Labor because they seem to place more emphasis on social justice. But by the same token, I don’t expect people to suggest that any good Christian should vote Liberal because they place more emphasis on issues of morality. When I say that the church is too political, I am specifically talking about this attempt to push one political party as the Christian party of choice.
My faith does affect the way I vote. And perhaps that in itself is making the church too political. I have heard it said that Christian values should not influence anything to do with politics. Politicians should leave their faith completely out of government. I disagree. Because my faith is important to me, it cannot help but influence my political views. If I was a politician, it would influence the way I performed in that role.
But I believe the church needs to realise that Christian values and politics are complicated things. People can vote one way because of Christian values and another one can vote another way because of Christian values. We should give people the freedom to consider what issues are important to them, whether or not it is influenced by their Christian faith, and vote in an appropriate way.
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Comment by S. L. Bradish
Comment by samaritan
Fringe Faith
Thanks for your comment. I guess the distinction has to be made between what religion dictates and what the church dictates. I always prefer to pay more attention to what I think Jesus would do, than what the church would do.
The church says that stopping abortion and gay marriage is the most important thing. And although I know many people would disagree with me, I truly believe that Jesus would consider issues of social justice to be more important.
I think Jesus would consider it more important to help people than to legalise against things like homosexual marriage. For a start, he spent a lot of time telling people to do things like give to the poor and help others. Secondly, legalising against certain practices does no-one any real good in the long run. It doesn't change their heart.
And you're right. It is a touchy subject. I've had a few conversations with people where I just had to change the subject - because it is so easy to spiral into a disagreement where nothing gets resolved and everyone just gets mad at each other.
Samaritan
www.fringefaith.com
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
I've always found it difficult to understand the alliance between Christian organisations and the Republicans in America and to a lesser extent the Liberals in Australia.
I agree with you that social justice is more important than morality (but I'm not religious so maybe that's no surprise), so I was stumped in the last US election when Bush got a huge Christian turn out who based their votes on 'moral values'. Kerry was virtually seen as the Anti-Christ due to his stance on gay marriage. What I couldn't understand is how this concern with sexual morality overshadowed the failing war in Iraq which was anything but moral.
Unfortunately, it is the case that many Christians will refuse to vote for the Democratic Party simply because they are pro-choice and support gay rights, despite the fact that Democrat policies are more geared towards the less fortunate.
I really commend you for your fresh approach to your faith and your belief that social justice should be the top priority of any government.
(I also wasn't aware that some Churches in Australia were pushing so hard for the Liberals. Thanks for pointing that out).
Comment by samaritan
Fringe Faith
Thanks for your comments, particularly for saying that you enjoy reading my posts. I also am confused at the way Christians seem to support policies based soley on moral values. In relation to the war in Iraq, there are still many people in my church who consider it a battle about good and evil. There also seems to be a view that George W Bush is an evangelical Christian, so any policies he has have got to be Christian. Although I do see more people questioning him now than used to happen in the past.
There's an excellent book called God's Politics. In it he says something along the lines of Christian politics should be about "I'm a Christian, and so what does God want me to do" rather than the other view of "I'm a Christian and so God will agree with whatever I want to do."
I suppose in terms of Australian churches pushing for the Liberal party, it would depend a lot on what type of church you go to. My pastor has mentioned another Christian minister who votes for the Green party. Mind you, my pastor also said that the minister in question couldn't possibly be a "real" Christian because no "real" Christian would vote for them. I think in the pentecostal churches, it would be pretty common that the Liberal Party was seen as the Christian party.