God & Politics, Part I

God & Politics, Part I

April 22, 2009, 7:16 pm
Filed under: Reflections | Tags: Christian nation, faith and politics, first amendment, god & politics, god and politics, God in America, politics, religion, religious right, separation of church & state, separation of church and state

If you’re like me, you shudder when you see those words put together like that. I’ll go ahead and tell you right off of the bat that I don’t approve of mixing them. You may disagree. Hopefully, if that’s the case, I can persuade you (whatever your political beliefs) to agree with me that they should be kept as far apart as possible. Now, this letter will focus mainly on American politics because I’m not familiar enough with any others to really have anything to say about them (other than that it’s a safe bet that God shouldn’t be in them). Also, it has been my observation that of all industrialized so-called “Western” countries, religion plays the biggest role in American politics. If you’re reading this in another country, I encourage you to continue anyways, as I believe that what I have to say is very general. There is a lot to be said, so this will be yet another multi-letter series.

Let’s start by clearing up a few myths about religion American politics. First, is America really a “Christian Nation” as is so often claimed? Well, that depends on what you mean by a “Christian Nation.” If you mean a country were the large majority of the religious population identifies itself as Christian then, yes, America is a “Christian nation.” However, if you mean a country built on Christian ideals by Christian men, then America is emphatically not a “Christian Nation.” Most of America’s most famous “Founding Fathers” were, in fact, deists. A “deist” is someone who believes that God created the universe, but that He is for the most part unconcerned with its actual day-to-day affairs. Deists in general do not believe in miracles or, in most cases, the divinity of Jesus. While deism is not so popular now, in the time when the Declaration of Independence (and later the Constitution) was drafted, it was very popular in the intellectual circles that America’s Founding Fathers were part of.

As for the United States Constitution, it was based less on Biblical law and Ten Commandments (as is sometimes claimed) than the writings of influential philosophers of the time, such as John Locke (as it happens, John Locke was actually not a deist). Certainly, though, the Founding Fathers were influenced by Christian ideas; Thomas Jefferson actually wrote his own version of the Gospels, though it portrayed Jesus as completely human and removed references to supernatural miracles.

There are also a lot of myths regarding the “Separation of Church and State” in America. The phrase actually does not appear in any of the official founding documents of the United States, including the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. It does, however, appear in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father and the principle author of the Declaration of Independence. Interestingly, he was writing not to government officials encouraging them not to worry about religious interference, but instead to a minority Christian group assuring them that the government would not interfere with their faith. The justification for the principle in general comes not from Jefferson’s letter, but from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which he was writing about. The First Amendment forbids the US government from establishing a State religion, effectively guaranteeing the freedom to practice any religion (or no religion) in America. Additionally, Article 6 in the Constitution forbids any religious “tests” for those who wish to hold public office. Both of these rules, combined with a Founding Father’s interpretation for them, make an overwhelming case that the American government was intended to be secular and not Christian. Certainly, the words “Christian,” “Christianity,” “Christ,” or “Jesus.” do not appear anywhere in the Constitution.

Finally, there is a persistent myth that the Republican Party in America is the party of Christianity. While it is true that Christians, especially Evangelicals, make up a sizable and very influential portion of the party (the so-called “Religious Right”), it is a mistake to assume that all “real” American Christians are Republicans, or that all Republicans are Christian. In fact, religious identity cuts both ways. While it is true that Democrats (or, rather, liberals) are less likely to identify themselves as Christian or religious in general, most Democrats and self-identified liberals are Christian. After all, like I said earlier, Americans are mostly Christian. I know many Democrats who go to church every week and are very religious, but feel like Christianity calls them to the other side of the political spectrum.

And so, here, I’ve already touched on a number of issues with religion in American politics. Firstly, Americans feel inclined to pick one political party over another due to their religious teachings. A Republican, for example, may read, say Leviticus 20:13 and interpret it such that God forbids gay marriage, and it should thus be illegal. Since the Republican party often supports such initiatives, the Republican believes God commands him to be Republican. However, a Democrat may read Psalm 82:3-4 and interpret it such that the poor should be given welfare to improve their lives. Since the Democratic party often supports such initiatives, the Democrat believes God commands him to be Democratic.

One of the issues is that, as anyone who’s sat in a pew at church has noticed, the Bible seems to feature two Gods: the God of the Old Testament who is strict and vengeful, and the God of the New Testament, who is loving and merciful. While there are a variety of explanations for this, the point is that it is obviously possible for Christians to disagree about what God wants. In fact, recent research has shown that what “kind” of God you believe in makes you more likely to have certain political beliefs or values.

Another problem with picking political affiliation based on faith is that political parties are the work of men. Therefore, they cannot be Godly, as they are limited in every way by the flaws of man. Scandal after scandal has rocked both sides of the isle in the US Congress, and it is often the most devout-appearing politicians that fall the hardest on their face. While I don’t necessarily believe that there is anything wrong with picking a political philosophy, such as liberal or conservative, based on your faith is a bad thing to do, your loyalty should be to God and not a political party, no matter how much they claim to represent Him.

Remember, God is God of all people, liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, American or any other person in the world.

-Timothy

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