Why I'm still on the right

In many elections it is not surprising how people vote.  There are usually one or two key issues that people cling to and that sets their political mind set.  There is nothing wrong with that.  The reality is that there are so many issues with no real right or wrong  perspective that very few of us can all agree on every issue.  That's why our party specific primary elections can often be divisive.

In past elections, many Christians have tended to vote more conservatively because in general (not in all cases) the conservative platforms include moral positions that more align with a biblical perspective.  However, I have noticed a shift in that thinking among some Christians.  It's not a shift away from biblical perspectives but more a shift in which biblical perspectives cause more conviction in their political view.

Here's my attempt of an analysis of this shift and why I haven't shifted.  I'm going to be speaking in general terms so forgive me if I appear to be using a brush that is too broad.  However, I want to keep this thought process simple.

As mentioned in my previous post, a couple of the major moral political issues today are abortion and government recognition of gay marriages.  These issues have tended to pull Christians to the Republican side of the political spectrum because many Republican candidates take the pro-life and pro-heterosexual marriage platform stance.  There are also other biblical perspective issues such as the sovereignty of Israel but that issue tends to be less divisive across political lines.

Today, I think these two moral political hot topics are starting to take a back seat to another important moral political issue, which is injustice.  Christians see the injustice of the poor and the persecuted and they want justice.  This is an important biblical perspective and valuable morally political issue to address.

This is where the political shift has started to occur for many Christians.  The Republican party is pro-business.  By that I mean it's overall position is that the market will keep business in check, there needs to be very little if any governmental regulations over business.

The problem is that the goal for most successful businesses is to make a profit.  Greed becomes the god of many corporations.  Success is measured by revenue growth.  This is obviously not a biblical perspective (Matt 6:24, Luke 16:13).  Over the past decade we have seen the results of this greed with the likes of Enron and others.

Another important injustice issue outside of economics is the real issue of prejudice.  The big areas of concern in our country today are racial prejudice and sexual orientation prejudice.  I think prejudice crosses party lines but unfortunately more openly prejudice groups are identified as "on the right" politically. 

Christian conservatives are often labeled as prejudice against gay and lesbians because of their belief that the Bible clearly labels this lifestyle as a sin.  Unfortunately, this perspective of this conservative Christian viewpoint is again a stereotype because some Christians address this issue in a non-Christian and hateful manner.

The abortion issue has also started to give way to injustice perspectives.  It is not that Christians that vote for the democratic ticket want to see babies killed.  It's that the pro-life movement is often perceived as a "persecuting" movement against the woman in crises.

These are the shifts I see in the Christian political perspective.  However, I still find myself on the conservative side of the equation for the reasons to follow.  I may not be seeing these perspectives correctly so if you are a Christian on the more liberal side of the political spectrum, please comment on this post.

I too am very concerned about the injustices in this world.  I believe that as a follower of Jesus I should fight the battle against these injustices.  However, as the title of this post indicates, I have not shifted my political position to the left with some of my brothers and sisters in Christ that have the same passion against injustice as I do.

Why?

Because I do not think that a political party or any government can or will address the injustices in this world.  Jesus never called a political movement to address the injustices of this world.  He called us, His followers, to address the injustices.  When we depend on the government we end up with communism on the left and fascist dictatorships on the right.

You cannot address the injustice of the poor by trying to redistribute the wealth.  The injustice to the poor is the lack of compassion for the poor.   The injustice of the poor will not be addressed until hearts of those with the wealth are changed.

The problem with trying to regulate compassion is that those in power in the government are just as much sinners as those they are trying to regulate.  Why do we have our current financial crises in this country?  We tried to regulate compassion by providing housing for those that could not afford it.  However, those in charge of the program were greedy and sought their own wealth at the expense of the rest of us.

What is a Christian then to do politically?  Give up?  Never.  I believe as Christians we are to engage our world, so that means we have to engage politically.  My dilemma then is how do I choose between worldly (imperfect) ideologies.  I try to keep it simple.

Abortion is wrong.  God ordains life prior to conception (Psalm 139:13-16).  We have no right to terminate a life that God has ordained.  There are lots of deep arguments that could be made about rape and incest victims but that is not the political issue today.  President-elect Obama was quoted saying he would not want his daughters punished with a baby for making a moral mistake.  While this comment was off the cuff and maybe not how he really wanted to state it, that is the real issue.  Abortion is used today to undue a mistake, at the cost of an innocent baby's life.

As a Christian, I should actively pray and work for the women that find themselves in crises of a pregnancy and no means to support the child as well as pray and work to support those mothers and children when the child is born.  However, I cannot vote for a candidate that supports abortion as an option.

While Jesus never personally addressed the homosexual issue in the Gospels, Paul certainly lists homosexual actions along with other sinful actions (Romans 1:26, 1 Cor 6:9-11) .  Homosexual actions are also directly denounced in the Old Testament  (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13). 

As a Christian, I should love my neighbor, including my gay and lesbian neighbors.  I cannot view their sin as any worse than my own sins.  However, I cannot condone their sin anymore than I can condone my own sin.  I cannot agree with a worldly political movement to condone the homosexual lifestyle as normal and God ordained.

As a Christian, I should give freely to those in need.  This is not just tithing to my church but giving wherever there is a need and not just money, but my time and my heart as well.  The government can't regulate this.  We know from our own welfare system and the socialist policies in many European countries that when the government tries to regulate giving (i.e. redistribution of  wealth) it does not fix poverty but creates dependency on the government.  Dependency on the government leads to an ever increasing size of government.

Christians in corporate America should live out their Christian faith.  They should work hard and voluntarily serve others in need with money and their time.  Government regulation can be a knee-jerk response to corrupt business practices that negatively hurts honest companies and the people that work for those companies.  Corrupt businesses will usually fail on their own in a free market.  In a government regulated market, corruption is protected (i.e. see Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac). 

Make no mistake about it.  While Christ's Kingdom on earth has started, this physical world is still ruled by Satan (Matt 4:8-9, Eph 6:12).  Big government, either or the left or on the right, will never do the work that needs to be done by those that belong to the Kingdom of God. 

There will be a government that will one day rule this earth with justice.  However, that ruler is Jesus when he returns.  Until he comes, I need to keep my spiritual passion deep and seek the Kingdom of God and it's justice, but I need to keep my worldly political perspectives simple, which for me if on on the right of center, rather than on the left.

Finally, once the votes are casts, God's will be done.  I congratulate President-elect Obama.  I will pray for him and our country and seek God's Kingdom regardless of which way our country's political winds blow.

Romans 13:1 (ESV)
¹ Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

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Election Victory Guaranteed

On Tuesday our country will elect a new president.  Some think that this election will be a landslide. Some predict a closer election and maybe even an upset.  Whoever wins, about half the country will be upset.

We live in a state between discontent and fear.  Discontent because gas prices are too high, stock prices are too low, and the war in the middle east has gone on too long.  Fear because change is not always for the better.

I once had a discussion with a co-worker over whether or not religion and politics should be mixed.  I think as a Christian, you cannot compartmentalize your faith and separate it from your political decisions.  More important than foreign and economic policies are the spiritual policies that matter to God. 

This makes voting for a president very difficult.  As a Christian, you want a president that seeks God's heart but in American politics, the game is about rhetoric, not about things of the heart, especially things on God's heart.

There are political issues that Christians rally around, such as abortion and same sex marriage.  In that respect, many Christians vote for the candidate that takes a stand against these two practices.  Personally, I use this same litmus test, particularly in regards to abortion.  However, does a candidate's stand on abortion really mean they have more of a heart for God's heart than the other candidate?

My point is that a candidate's public stance on political issues, including political moral issues, is usually based on solidifying their political base.  A pro-life, pro-traditional marriage candidate may have no more desire to seek God's will than the pro-choice, pro-gay marriage candidate.  Only God knows their heart.

The good news is that while it is our duty to cast our vote and do our work as Americans and Christians, we don't really choose our next president.  God chooses.

Psalms 135:6 (ESV)
⁶ Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

On November 5, regardless of the election outcome (although we may not know the outcome for months if it is close), celebrate the victory.  Praise God who is sovereign over all.  God chooses the kings and God chooses the presidents.  Praise God but also pray for His mercy.  Pray for our country.  Pray for our new leader.  Pray of a Nineveh style revival (Jonah 3:6-10).

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Why high gas prices?

While many environmental enthusiast may be quite happy with the current gas crises, because it forces Americans to think more about gas and oil usage, I don't think our economy can survive letting oil prices get out of control. What we are accomplishing, is increasing our dependency on other countries that want to see our downfall. I'm not a political expert, but common sense tells me this is a bad idea.

What's my Christian perspective on this issue? My concern is that our environmental policies are aimed at glorifying the environment over God. Does God want us to take care of our environment? Absolutely. Does he want us to do it at the expense of ignoring real human suffering and real human needs? Out of control oil prices mean people will lose their jobs. This winter people probably will die because they will not be able to afford heating for their homes.

We can't solve this oil crisis by burning food instead of oil. We can't solve this oil crises by ignoring the need for oil. Yes, we should be looking for alternative energy resources, and yes we should all be doing our individual part to conserve energy and protect the environment. However, let's not sacrifice our country and our people today for the sake of an unproven hope in the future. By unproven hope, I mean that nobody has laid out a realistic plan to protect our environment without devastating our economy. When the economy collapses, it won't be the rich that suffer alone, if the rich suffer at all.

My faith is my secure hope in Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)
¹ Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

If our political policies are void of this same hope then we have no hope as a country. To the far right you have big Oil and big Money that want to make as much money as they can. Maybe that has gotten us to where we are in some measure. However, on the far left, you have big government and social activism where the cause is the god and real people are forgotten.

Romans 1:25 (ESV)
²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

As this article below points out, the social left has just as much responsibility to bear on our current crisis as the the oil companies themselves.

The information below was passed to me by a friend. I mention this because this may be posted elsewhere and I don't want to pass it off as my own original post. However, I agree with the premise below that we have over-legislated environmental concerns to the point of crippling our country. Feel free to comment and dispute anything mentioned in this post, however please provide links to articles that support any counter points.

.... Email Text Below ....

Please take a close look at this map. Then print it out and place it on your fridge where you will see it every day. This November on election day, take a long hard look at it before you go vote!

Gas at $4.00 a gallon. Who's to blame?

Thanks to the environmentalist lobby and its influence on Democratic legislators in Congress, the U.S. has, for decades, been prohibited from drilling for oil in places that we know contain billions of barrels of proven reserves.

Check out this map:

All of the 'NO' zones are places where the U.S. , thanks to the Democratic Party, is prohibited from drilling for oil.

But wait . it gets better.

***

China, Cuba, Canada and others continue to drill off our shores where US companies are not allowed to drill because of Democratic policies!

Yes, that's right . China and Cuba are actively exploring oil fields 50 miles from Key West, Florida while U.S. companies are barred from working in this area because of U.S. policy . So, instead of allowing the most environmentally responsible companies to operate there and increase our domestic supply, China, who has a dismal environmental record, is preparing to suck our close, lucrative oil reserves dry.

Unbelievable.

Investor's Business Daily recently explained how irresponsible the Democrats have been on the energy crisis. They lay into what they consider to be the worst Congress ever for ...

• Failing to allow drilling in ANWR. We have, as President Bush noted, estimated capacity of a million barrels of oil a day from this source alone -- enough for 27 million gallons of gas and diesel. But Congress won't touch it, fearful of the clout of the environmental lobby. As a result, you pay through the nose at the pump so your representative can raise campaign cash.

• Refusing to build new refineries. The U.S. hasn't built one since 1976, yet the EPA requires at least 15 unique 'boutique' fuel blends that can be sold in different areas around the nation. This means that U.S. refinery capacity is stretched so tight that even the slightest problem at a refinery causes enormous supply problems and price spikes. Congress has done nothing about this.

• Turning its back on nuclear power. It's safe and, with advances in nuclear reprocessing technology, waste problems have been minimized. Still, we have just 104 nuclear plants -- the same as a decade ago -- producing just 19% of our total energy. (Many European nations produce 40% or more of their power with nuclear.) Granted, nuclear power plants are expensive -- about $3 billion each. But they produce energy at $1.72/kilowatt-hour vs. $2.37 for coal and $6.35 for natural gas.

• Raising taxes on energy producers. This is where a basic understanding of economics would help: Higher taxes and needless regulation lead to less production of a commodity. So by proposing 'windfall' and other taxes on energy companies plus tough new rules, Congress only makes our energy situation worse.

These are just a few of Congress' sins of omission -- all while India , China , Eastern Europe and the Middle East are adding more than a million barrels of new demand each and every year. New Energy Department forecasts see world oil demand growing 40% by 2030, including a 28% increase in the U.S.

Americans who are worried about the direction of their country, including runaway energy and food prices, should keep in mind the upcoming election isn't just about choosing a new president. We'll also pick a new Congress.

If you agree with the need to let the American people know who's REALLY responsible for the sky-high gasoline prices we're seeing today, please forward this e-mail to everyone you know.

If we elect a liberal Democrat as president in the Fall and keep the same Democrat-controlled Congress, nothing will change; except gasoline prices, which will keep going up.

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Global warming - hype or truth and does it matter?

The reports that that in a recent poll only 51% of Christians and only 33% of evangelical Christians consider global warming a major issue. On the other hand, 62% of non-Christian religious people and 69% of atheist see global warming as a serious threat.

In 2006, some well known evangelicals signed a document called the Evangelical Climate Initiative. A couple of the more well known Christian leaders that signed the document were Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. However, World Magazine is now reporting another group of evangelicals have initiated a new campaign called, "We Get It." This new campaign is more in line with the majority evangelical viewpoint that there are more important world issues than global warming.

Does this mean that Christians and particularly evangelical Christians are not as concerned about our world that God created as those that those that think the whole world is a lucky accident in the first place?

I think what these numbers reveal is that evangelicals are more skeptical about global-warming hype because they are skeptical of the source of the information. If evolution is forced upon us without any scientific proof, is there really solid scientific proof for global warming?

The answer to this question depends on who you believe. Proponents for the global warming threat point to computer models that show the earth's temperatures are increasing at an alarming rate. However, there are problems with these computer models such as the unpredictability of weather patterns and that when applied to past years these models have a wide variance (wide enough to completely neutralize the results).

It is important that we care for our earth that God created for us. We should not be wasteful, we should recycle and we should think green in our daily lives. However, we should not spend millions of dollars on theoretical solutions for theoretical problems when there are real problems that need to be addressed today. People are starving and people are dying of AIDS. This is not a theoretical catastrophe that might happen in two or three decades. It is a catastrophe happening now.

You can find all the global warming hype you want just by doing a Google search. You can also find plenty of counter-arguments. If you want to read a good balance to the prevailing hype, try articles on these two scientific (not Christian) sites:

Skeptic Magazine - A Climate of Belief

Junk Science - The Real Inconvenient Truth'

I think I have to side with the majority evangelical view. The proponents of the global warming catastrophe theory are too political and the scientific counter-points are sound.

Let's take care of the world God gave us but let's set aside political agendas and focus on the world's real problems today.

What do you think?

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God loves Hillary and Obama

Anybody that knows me knows that politically, I am a conservative. Will I vote for Hillary or Obama? No. There are personal convictions, particularly on abortion that will prevent me from casting my vote for either of these two candidates. I also have political convictions where I don’t believe their vision is what is needed for our country. I don’t know if John McCain’s vision makes me feel any better but that’s not the point.

The point is not the political ideology of Hillary and Obama. The point is, that no matter what I think or what I believe, God still loves them.

We like to mock and tell jokes about public figures we don’t care for. Why do I feel it is ok to mock and tell jokes about people I don’t know? Is gossip not gossip if you don’t know the person you are gossiping about? Do you think Jesus and his disciples sat around the table and trashed talked about the Jewish and Roman leaders or do you think they sat around the table and prayed for them?

Do I pray for Hillary and Obama? Shouldn’t I, especially since one of them may soon be my president?

If God loves Hillary and Obama, and I claim to have God’s love in me, then shouldn’t I love them?

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Religion and Politics

A co-worker made the statement the other day that she was tired of religion having any part of politics and that she wished there was a true separation of church and state. My response was that someone’s morals were more important to me than their religion as to whether or not I would vote for them. As is often the case with table talk and talking without thinking, my response was inaccurate.

Morals are based on what you believe is right and wrong. My morals as a believer in Jesus as my Lord and Savior are going to be different than the morals of someone who believes differently. A person’s religion is also a statement about what they believe. If my morals are based on what I believe and I am qualifying a candidate based on his or her morals then I am qualifying that person based on what they believe and ultimately on their religion.

I am not judging one candidate as a better person than another because of their beliefs. I’m judging if their values are the same as mine which means their decisions will line up more closely with what I believe is best for our country.

Am I wrong to bring my Christian faith into my political decisions? Not if I really believe what I say I believe. If I really believe that Jesus is the only hope for me, my family, my friends, my co-workers, my country, and my world then I am going to choose leaders that believe this as well over leaders that do not.

Everyone votes based on their beliefs. You vote on a candidate because their belief on what is best for the country is the same as yours. If my belief is that the hope I have in Jesus is the only hope for our country then I am going to vote my convictions. If you believe God is not relevant to politics and the most important qualification is a candidate’s belief on economic and environmental issues then you will vote your convictions accordingly.

Do I believe that economics, environmental and foreign policy are important? Absolutely, I should understand a candidate’s beliefs on how to address these issues. However, it is important to me that the thought process on dealing with these issues starts with the candidate’s beliefs in God which shapes their ultimate beliefs on right and wrong.

Do I believe in separation of church and state? Again absolutely, the government should not dictate or pass laws that force a particular religion on anyone. However, religion or church is just a belief system. If someone chooses not to believe in God, that is a belief and their religion of unbelief should not be forced upon me.

As long as we live in a free country, religion will always be part of politics because we will all always vote based on what we truly believe. The question we have to ask ourselves is, “What do I really believe?”

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