Must Evangelicals Dirty Their Hands In Politics – Part 2

[Continued from last week. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.]

Suddenly, politics didn’t seem so “this worldly” to me any more. I started to make the heavenly connections and began to see how politics was really an important means to an end – God’s end – in this case, the protection of innocent human life.

I thought, “What were Christians doing leading up to that awful Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973?” Someone had obviously been asleep at the switch. As Edmund Burke rightly observed, “All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.” Now the damage of Roe v. Wade had to be undone. Sure, prayer would be needed and changed hearts would be nice; that’s where the gospel comes in. But, ultimately, it would take political action to accomplish the task.

The bottom line is – and this fact remains to this day – unborn babies will keep being slaughtered in this country until a few more life-loving judges are put on the Supreme Court, who will overturn Roe v. Wade. This will not happen until a life-loving president and Congress are duly elected by the people… which will not happen unless I (and you) get politically active and vote. With two or three justices likely to retire in the next few years, the stakes couldn’t be higher for this election.

After that election in 1984, I began to appreciate the affect American politics had not only on the lives of the unborn but on my own life and the lives of most people around the world. And it went well beyond abortion into all the issues we were facing at the time: the Cold War and national defense, education, economic stability, and equal opportunity for all, to name a few.

Politics mattered! Certainly not as much as the gospel – but it wasn’t a fallacious either-or proposition to me anymore. I realized that the gospel and moral political action were actually complementary ideals. I could and should actively participate in promulgating both messages of freedom: the primary gospel message of eternal spiritual freedom in Christ AND the secondary message of temporal political freedom via democracy and governmental protection of basic human rights. These were no longer inherently contradictory concepts to me.

My vote and my influence began to take on new meaning, and I began to take an interest in politics… from a biblical perspective, of course. What does the Bible say about citizenship in a constitutional republic like ours? About the role of government? About individual rights and responsibilities? About social justice?

I began to follow the campaigns, read up on the news, and keep closely abreast of the issues. I also enjoyed discussing and debating those issues in conversations at home and with friends. My intense interest in understanding all things political was one reason I eventually went to law school. During one semester, I even worked on a presidential campaign in Washington, D.C.

Washington turned out to be a big eye opener for me. I was surprised to find that the leading Democrat and Republican operatives are largely sewn from the same cloth. While they have different views on the direction America should take – and that’s important – they all have the same insatiable drive for power, prestige, and position.

That repulsed me, but it didn’t make me cynical again. I was beginning to learn that, beyond the dirty side of politics that the media and all those political ads like to highlight, there is also a noble side. “It’s the ideas, Stupid!” Yes, politics is essentially more about ideas than it is about parties and the people who run them. Sure, people (hopefully good ones) are needed to inform and coalesce the voting public behind various causes and campaigns, but it’s the ideas (hopefully good ones) that eventually get enacted into the laws that ultimately affect peoples’ lives.

I’ve been grappling with those ideas, and filtering them all through a Christian worldview, ever since. I especially enjoy leading my students at Crown in discussion and debate about current issues facing our nation and world. One of my goals is to help them understand and appreciate their civic responsibilities and how the political process works.

For example, during this election cycle, we’ll cover all the key issues, such as which states will be the all-important “swing states” leading up to November 4? Whether Barack Obama’s economic plan is viable and whether it is the best way to help struggling Americans? Whether John McCain’s approach to foreign relations will keep us safe or put us at risk? If McCain wins, how will Sarah Palin be able to fulfill the office of Vice President and the needs of her family? Biblically speaking, should a mother like Palin even seek higher office? “And, by the way, did you see on cable last night that she can shoot, skin, and eat a moose all by herself? That’s got to be really tiring… and filling!” Ok, sometimes we can get off track, but that’s part of the fun!

I try to help students develop their own personal, biblically-based political ideology as opposed to becoming a blind party loyalist. That’s one reason a few years back that we changed the name of the on-campus club I advise from the “College Republicans” to the “College Conservatives.”

The primary goal of the club is to build camaraderie amongst conservative students and “promote the conservative and biblical values of life, liberty, traditional marriage and family, individual responsibility, a strong work ethic, service to others, and limited government.” These values are put into action by students when they go out and support causes and viable candidates that most align with their conservative ideals. And for the record, I’d be just fine with students forming a “College Liberals” or “College Democrats” here on Crown’s campus. Freedom of thought and expression is what college life is all about. It’s what America is all about!

Having good political ideas is important. However, part of our civic responsibility as Christians also includes carrying out our civic actions in a civil (duh!) way. It’s learning to “speak the truth in love” and with grace even when under attack.

This is hard to do when we experience the incivility of politics all around us, like when someone once spoke in chapel and announced seemingly out of the blue that “right wing Moral Majority Christianity SUCKS!” Boy, was that a shocker. It did provide fodder for a great discussion in my Argumentation and Debate class on rational argument and civility, though.

Learning the delicate art of discussing controversial issues in a civil, respectful way doesn’t only apply to politics, but to theology and the gospel message itself. As Solomon puts it, “The tongue of a wise man makes knowledge acceptable” Proverbs 15:2.

Now, I know what some will say (I’ve heard it from several students): “Hey, our right to vote includes the right to NOT vote or get involved, right?” That’s absolutely true. Just like we all have the right to not recite the Pledge, not sing the National Anthem, not pray, not attend church, not protest, not bear arms – the list goes on and on. It’s great to have so many rights and freedoms, isn’t it? God bless America! But each one of our God-endowed, inalienable rights carries certain moral responsibilities, too, and as Christians, we of all people should understand clearly what those responsibilities are.

The responsibilities that come with our right to vote are not insignificant or trivial, and I believe God wants us to take them seriously. Beyond the basic act of voting, they include being well informed, being influential, and being active in the political process to the extent we are each able. Put another way, Christians should be the last citizens in a democracy to leave all the political decision making to other people – people who may or may not have God’s or our best interest at heart.

CONCLUSION

In almost every election since 1984, I’ve felt compelled to volunteer for campaigns, plant lawn signs in my yard, put bumper stickers on my cars, send scores of emails, donate money, and of course, I’ve voted. It has been so much more than a civic duty; it has been a true privilege – a regular reminder of the freedom that God and so many American patriots have afforded me.

Four years ago, I even joined the club of politicians when I won a seat on my local city council. In fact, at the time of this writing, I am just about to embark on a campaign to win a second four-year term.

But the stakes in my race are nothing compared to what’s at stake in this year’s run-off for high national offices, where decisions will be made that impact lives both in the U.S. and around the world for years to come. With the hotly contested and very intriguing Presidential race about to come down to a photo finish, this is one election that no eligible Christian voter should spend sitting on the sidelines.

Besides, as I like to tell my students, “If you don’t get involved in politics, rest assured; politics will get involved with you.”