On the way home from the the coffee shop tonight (when your wife is out of the country, you find a lot of ways to kill time), I was listening to The Janet Mefferd Show, a Christian political radio talk show. The show seems to be on during my commute almost every day, so I’ve had plenty of opportunities to hear it, and I’ve found that this show is a disappointing yet all too common representation of how Christians should not conduct themselves when it comes to politics. The Bible with which I’m familiar instructs Christians to love their enemies (Matt 5:44, Prov 24:17, Prov 25:21, Rom 12:14-21, Luke 6:27-36, need I go on?). On the contrary, the typical “Christian conservative” pundit mocks his enemies, attributes to them the most sadistic of motives, and seems to make no effort to understand or accurately depict any viewpoint rather than their own (what’s that about not bearing false witness?).
The problem, I believe, is that too many conservative Christians have so married their faith with their politics that they parrot Republican talking points and somehow delude themselves into thinking that they’re actually expressing Christian doctrine. They conveniently overlook the fact that conservative politicians are still politicians, and are just as guilty of twisting the truth and manipulating facts for political gain. They quickly jump from believing that Christians should behave in a certain way to believing that Christians should take control of government to coerce everyone into living a righteous life. Janet and others like her seem to have confused Sarah Palin for St. Paul.
Note: it is unfortunate that so many people can think in only two dimensions, and therefore it is necessary to point out that I am neither a political liberal nor a Democrat, that I am theologically conservative, that I do not think that any and every lifestyle is “ok”, etc. I simply do not believe that God has called his followers to use force to make the world in his image. Christians would do well to test their political beliefs against the Bible, not against Fox News.
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