Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Religious Coalitions in American Politics
One of the most obvious ways that religious Christianity demonstrates itself to be misguided is in its blind allegiances within U.S. politics. I have commented on this before ("Religion, Politics, and Power"), but it is a topic that cuts to the heart of what it really means to follow Jesus apart from religion.
Unfortunately, Christians today have trouble separating their religious allegiances from their political ones. The two are deeply intertwined, and form the underlying fabric of our society, both for good and for bad.
There is an excellent article in Christianity Today's Books and Culture journal (November/December 2005 issue): "Religious Coalitions in American Politics". The article probes into the findings of the Fourth National Survey of Religion and Politics conducted at the University of Akron. While the conclusions are really not that surprising, the discussion raises many important issues. For one, even among Christians there is considerable variance of political convictions, based primarily on religious affiliation and background.
Certainly we must acknowledge that religion continues to play an important role in American public life. But, it's not a matter of people simply allowing their faith to shape their convictions. I am convinced that the marriage between religion and politics is much more a matter of sociological and historical factors, and seems to be far removed from the radical approach that Jesus proposed in his proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Jesus recognized these dangers of religion in his own time, and it's time we see the relevancy of this in our own age.
But are we willing to challenge our warped political systems with the same fervor and sacrifice as Jesus and his earliest followers? Are we willing to give up our aspirations to "save" America through the Christian-izing of politics? What would it really mean to our country and world if we were to follow the way of Jesus radically?
Related topic: See "God's Politics".
