|
By John H. Redekop
 DURING this fall, given the confluence of Canadian and American election campaigns, citizenship advice abounds. Christian counsel saturates the media.
Here, then, are six guidelines which may be useful for fellow pilgrims finding their way through the political maze.
Importance to God
The political realm is important to God. While we may not all agree on the relative role of politics and government, the biblical account gives prominence to politics.
Beginning with the declaration of 'the mark of Cain' in Genesis 4:15, God established the importance of government.
The emphasis on politics, broadly defined, continues through to the Book of Revelation. While some Christians consider earthly government the antithesis of God's plan of salvation, others see it as one of two kingdoms used by God to achieve his ends.
With due respect for free choice, the kingdom of God, not surprisingly, takes precedence. Earthly kingdoms, when true to their God-given mandate, play a facilitative role.
Skill vs faith
When my car needs a brake job or a timing gear adjustment, I look for expertise. Finding a fellow Christian who possesses "all knowledge of the grace of God" will not, in itself, get the job done.
Even more to the point, if my gall bladder has ruptured and serious infection threatens, medical competence takes precedence. Of course, if medical competence is matched by Christian expertise, so much the better. But we must never let Christian maturity be a substitute for professional accomplishment.
Similarly, in evaluating politicians, competence trumps spirituality. If, however, professional ability is enhanced by godly qualities, so much the better. But I would never allow a medically unschooled saint to do brain surgery, any more than I would allow an uninitiated theologian to evaluate my bladder.
New insights
Much of our pilgrimage on this earth deals with taking advantage of new knowledge and new insights. Sometimes God grants special knowledge and insight to fellow believers, sometimes not.
While it may be that God gives new knowledge and insight to fellow Christians, he generally entrusts such insight, as in politics, to those who have mastered the discipline.
In politics, as in education or dentistry, professional accomplishment may be unrelated to spiritual accomplishment. Christians are well advised to take advantage of the best minds at hand.
The fundamental point is this: we need rulers who are open to new knowledge and insights. If they are also Christians, so much the better.
The 'single issue' trap
Recently I received an email letter from a dear friend. He has given much of his life to promoting righteousness and opposing evil.
Given the multiple slayings in Toronto recently, he wrote that "today I would vote for any of the three main parties with the courage to ban handguns and weapon-like knives, and impose the laws necessary to make the legislation stick."
I identify with my friend's strong feelings. But there are complications.
First, major lawbreakers are typically quite pleased to endorse laws they intend to break. This serves to deflect suspicion.
Second, major lawbreakers are typically pleased to identify with forces of law and order.
Third, major lawbreakers are pleased to have forces for righteousness focus on one particular kind of evil rather than the more inclusive gamut of evil in society.
Judeo-Christian ethic
The genius of the Judeo-Christian ethic is that it upholds equal treatment of all of God's children.
As in the days when the Children of Israel clamoured for a king, desiring what the other nations had, God respected their choice. That's the essence of God's treatment of his human creation, to whom he has entrusted wide-ranging moral judgment.
Of the world's major faiths, only Judaism and Christianity champion causes greater than their own.
Continue article >>
|
These two religions uphold people's right to make choices -- even wrong political choices which are displeasing to God. They uphold and defend this right to make wise -- as well as unwise -- choices.
With very limited constraints, as spelled out by God, they place personal choice above collective decision, or God's preferred option. That's a consequence of giving people moral and political freedom, a divine grace which goes all the way back to Adam and Eve in the Garden.
Supporters of other faiths, when they have political power, often tend to act as if they are the voice of God, not the voice of godly freedom.
These people feel compelled to coerce others to yield to God's will. This means, of course, that the citizens whom they rule tend to be given only those political rights and privileges which the rulers mete out. Government officials in such lands are committed not to the search for truth, but to a version of truth endorsed by the rulers of the day.
Not surprisingly, where a genuine commitment to basic Christian values is denied, political freedom is suppressed.
Practical support
Practical support for biblical values is crucial. While support for basic Christian values is not universally acknowledged, the ethical claim deserves to be made.
Throughout the world, the greatest achievements of freedom, equality, and human dignity are found where the Judeo-Christian ethic prevails. Losers in totalitarian struggles flee to such lands.
Although we can recognize major exceptions, it seems correct to say that support for stable families, respect for women, freedom of expression, freedom of religious commitment, the existence of a free press, freedom of political expression, freedom to vote or not to vote, and freedom to criticize all other groups -- again within broad limitations -- are associated with Judeo-Christian faith.
No other faith commitment has achieved such a longstanding record. The evidence should not be too readily dismissed.
Test of time
These, then, are six reasons why I champion the religious and political values rooted in Christianity. They have stood the test of time. These values -- and parties and candidates -- who embody them -- deserve our support.
I urge my fellow citizens to vote for candidates and political parties upholding these rights and privileges.
John Redekop is adjunct professor of political science at Trinity Western University, and is the author of Politics Under God (Herald Press, 2007).
Related stories:
The Da Vinci Vote
We face an election conducted through the prism of sensationalist fiction or, to put it another way, the dictatorship of the novel. In this case a bad novel. Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code has largely been forgotten but its grotesque caricature of Catholic organization Opus Dei has left a cloud of absurd misunderstanding around this group, whose main crime appears to be orthodoxy. . . . Dan Brown is evidently big in Quebec and, much to the chagrin of the Bloc, so might be the Conservatives. Accordingly, Gilles Duceppe announced that the Tory candidate in Saint-Hubert-Saint-Bruno, Nicole Charbonneau Barron, was an Opus Dei member. Then Raymond Gravel, a Catholic priest and outgoing Bloc MP, opined that, "Social conservatives such as members of Opus Dei may be running for office in order to change policies concerning abortion and same-sex marriage."
Michael Coren, National Post, September 18
Sarah Palin: Un-Christian behavior?
I have been one of the journalists focusing on the Pentecostal beliefs of Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. She has interpreted her branch of Christian faith to dictate against contraception, homosexuality and deny global warming. She also advocates for Creationism and seeing both the Iraq war and the imminent end of the world as God's will. But the new Alaskan governor's actions in office may be just as important, even more important, than her stated religious beliefs. Jesus brought the world one of its most profound teachings when he said: By their fruits shall you know them.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, September 20
Who is Canadian Raphael Shore and why is he stirring up the US election?
The American election campaign has been shaken up by an apparent Canadian named Raphael Shore. He is reported to be responsible for distributing millions of copies of a controversial DVD that argues radical Islam is a threat to the United States -- equal to Naziism in pre-war Germany.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, September 24
The U.S. is not now and never has been a "Christian" nation
There are many zealous evangelical leaders in the U.S. who proclaim America was founded on Christianity and that their faith alone should determine the way the government runs -- on "Christian principles." But these high-profile evangelical Christian leaders are wrong, even though many of their followers don't know it.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, September 25
September 25/2007
|
