Religion and politics
This headline from the TurboFaith blog caught my attention: "It's 2008-Pray For Elections."
We need to be spending time before God and finding out who we need to support in the 2008 election- I am asking God to raise up 2 Born Again, Holy Ghost filled, Christian men to take the office of President and Vice President and also Born Again, Christian men and women to be elected to the House Of Representatives and Senate! Also the same thing in all local and state level elections!- This country IS the greatest country on earth and I personally want to see it remain that way! If you are a Christian, please join with me in this awesome task. Pray! Seek Gods will and then get to it! Get out and vote!
Click here to read the whole post.
Certainly C.L. Tucker Jr. is not the first person to put forward such a position. Religion and politics have been mixing for a long, long time. Consider Guarino's recent take emerging (or not) differences among evangelical voters:
(Read more after the jump).
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- Recently, we have seen some political commentary celebrating the notion that contemporary evangelicals are more politically enlightened than old-guard evangelicals. The new guys on the block, we are told, are more likely to embrace environmentalism and "social justice" concerns, and less likely to emphasize "retro" issues like gay marriage and abortion.
According to this interpretation, the "wall of separation" between church and state is not as important, as long as evangelicals embrace the right issues politically.
In any event, the reality may be a bit different. Yes, some evangelicals embrace issues more aligned with progressive politics, and in fact, probably always have. The stereotype of lumping evangelicals, of which Southern Baptists are a part, into one basket politically has always been inaccurate. This group probably has never voted in an entirely monolithic fashion, and many of its people have harbored views that are aligned with political Democrats for various reasons.
And certainly there is a pretty large group of folks who would push back and say that mixing religion and politics in any context is a bad idea.
For me it’s a perplexing question, especially Tucker's call for a bottom-up consideration of faith for candidates in local to federal offices. One of the axioms I've long heard about why city councils should be nonpartisan is that there's no such thing as a Republican or Democratic sewer line, that roads need to be repaired regardless of party. I can't imagine the sewer lines care much about whether they're headed from a church or a mosque or a synagogue either.
And while there are certainly public policy issues where faith perspectives intersect (Guarino's pro-life example comes to mind) the bulk of most politicians workload has more to do with matters separate and apart from those hot-button social issues.
And in fact, there is a strong argument made by those who say there should not be a religious test for candidates of any sorts and none was ever intended by the founding fathers. Those who make that argument typically begin with Article VI of the Constitution:
- "…but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
Of course, there is also the question of which god - or which interpretation of god - gets to choose. Certainly I don't think that anyone really wants the Osama bin Laden version in charge. But even among Christians there's an active discussion of which version of god and faith is correct. Throw in a couple dozen other religions (Judaism, Islam, Hindu, Wicca) and the odd atheist and this question - or at least the answer - gets to be something of a mess.
So what's your approach to faith and politics? Do you keep church and state separate, or do you give unto a Caesar a big ol' earful of what you think is on god's mind? Click on the comment link to discuss.
