Kognitive Jelly

Wayward Christian Soldiers by Charles Marsh
I recently found this article that gives a scathing rebuke to evangelicals for their support of the war in Iraq. It opens with this quote:

In the past several years, American evangelicals, and I am one of them, have amassed greater political power than at any time in our history. But at what cost to our witness and the integrity of our message?

Working at a Christian “Teaching & Talk” Radio Station, I am exposed to this mind set a lot more than I am comfortable with. I am frequently bothered by how often the local Christian talk show is about politics and not about spiritual issues. And not only politics in a generic sense as to try to bring the light of God’s truth to the various political issues out there, but rather one that takes liberal Democrats to task and praises the Republican agenda.
Back during the recall election for Gov Gray Davis, I asked a girl at church who she was going to vote for and her answer shocked me. She said, “I’m voting for Arnold Schwarzenegger because I’m a Christian.” She went on to explain that because he was a Republican he must be ok because the Republican party was essentially the Christian Party.
I’ve been thinking about picking up God’s Politics : Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It because it seems to address this issue of American Evangelicals under the illusion that the Republican Party is God’s party:

The only reason I vote Republican is because of issues like abortion & gay marriage. In every other area I find myself more liberal in my beliefs. For example I am for taking care of the poor, dealing with racism, preserving the environment, and so on.

But if we are really honest about this when you look at the two parties there is very little difference between the two as both seem to do little more than pay lip service to the real issues facing the country. I think that is why the liberal activists have shifted their focus to the courts, because it seems the courts are willing to make the hard choices where most politicians won’t.

I leave you with the closing quote from the initial article:

What will it take for evangelicals in the United States to recognize our mistaken loyalty? We have increasingly isolated ourselves from the shared faith of the global Church, and there is no denying that our Faustian bargain for access and power has undermined the credibility of our moral and evangelistic witness in the world. The Hebrew prophets might call us to repentance, but repentance is a tough demand for a people utterly convinced of their righteousness.

Tags: christian politics, christian ethics