I'm still alive (or, if you prefer: politics, politics, and politics)

So I know I haven't blogged in ages, so my vast reader audience has probably dwindled down even lower at this point (if that was even possible). Anyway, for those of you that are still listening, I have a solid topic for today. It's something I've kinda hinted at in several posts now, but not really gone any deeper than surface level. So here it is--Christianity and politics.

I realize this is a touchy subject, so if you are 100% convinced that the only candidate a Christian should vote for is a southern Republican from a Baptist background, and you get upset when someone tells you otherwise, you should probably stop reading now. Anyway, with the race for presidential nomination going full force (probably stronger than it should be at this point, one year before the election), I felt now would be a good time to throw my political thoughts out there for whoever cares enough to read them. Growing up, in a pretty decent sized Baptist church, I was constantly told (or otherwise encouraged) that the Republican way was the only way, as far as being a Christian goes. I even remember hearing the following DURING A SERMON one Sunday: "If you are a Christian, George W. Bush should be your candidate." Period. Not "I think Bush embodies many Christian ideals," or "Bush is the strongest candidate faith-wise," but more or less, "vote for him, or you're voting against God."

While I realize this might be an extreme, it's hard to ignore the die-hard positions a lot of Christians take when it comes to politics. Whether it's in presidential elections or matters such as abortion, gay marriage, or things of the like, there is very little "lukewarm" when it comes to Christian (especially Baptist) ideas on what and who to vote for. Now if there's one thing I want you as a reader to take away from reading this blog, it is NOT that we as Christians should be wishy-washy when it comes to politics. Not at all. I think we as voters should research ideas, find the things that align with our faith the most, and vote for them. Hear me out on that. That is important. What isn't important, though, is picking our choices, and then throwing them on other believers and non-believers while saying "I don't see why you wouldn't vote this way if you are really a Christian." That is ridiculous, unbiblical, and, well, ridiculous.

When talking to Christians about voting and politics, you hear something like this a lot: "This is a broken world, and it's not gonna get any better unless we have a person of faith and good morals in office." I have two major problems with this thinking. They are as follows:

1) This IS a broken world. It was broken from the very beginning, as a result of the Fall. From the first bite taken of that fruit, this was a broken world. True statement. The viewpoint that it is more broken now than it was centuries and centuries ago, though, is hard for me to believe. When we speak of this "broken world," we are most likely referring to a decrease in general morality of people, a general shift towards un-Christian living--stuff like no more prayer in schools and the Ten Commandments being taken down, to name a few. This stuff is all unfortunate, and in no way do I support it being done, but we have to look at history for a second. When Jesus came to earth, it was a pretty "broken world" as well. I might even go so far to say that it was a little worse then than now. I mean after all, at least here in America, we complain that we have to pray silently in school, forgetting that during Jesus' time, praying to God in a public setting may have very well led to your death. To play it on the safe side, the political situation of Jesus' day was JUST AS BAD as ours today, even if you don't want to say that it was worse. In spite of this, though, did we ever hear Jesus say to anyone, "This is a broken world. And I'm telling you, if we could just get this guy in office instead of Caesar, we could fix everything"? To my knowledge, he never said anything close to that. Instead, he went from village to village telling of a new kingdom, a different kind of kingdom, that would always be possible, no matter what the political situation was. Which brings me to my next point...

2) I mainly don't believe in this "voting for someone so the world can improve" thing because of what it implies. If I believe that we as Christians must vote for a certain political candidate so the world can see a change in the direction of the kingdom of God, I must also believe that Christ is unable of changing the world under a different political candidate. And that, my friend, is simply a load of crap. I firmly believe that when God decides there is going to be a massive movement that will reach the entire world for Him, it will not make a bit of difference if Rudy Guliani is president, or if Billy Graham is in office.

Lastly, and bear with me as this may be my most "liberal" idea of the day, is this: Let's just say that we get the perfect Christian candidate in office for President. And why stop there? Let's say we also have elected a 95% Christian Congress too. Meanwhile, we have gotten every piece of legislation passed that we, as Christians, considered Biblical. Prayer is back in schools, and the Ten Commandments are now posted on every street corner. What have we really accomplished? By that I mean this. Is the ultimate goal for us as followers of Christ to get the world's laws to align with our beliefs? Or is the ultimate goal to reach people for Christ, no matter what the situation? I personally can't imagine one more person being saved these last four years because we have George Bush in office rather than John Kerry (a lot of people may even argue that the opposite is true).

I guess, to summarize, it's not that I don't think Christians or churches should be involved in politics. They should, to a certain degree. But I have to believe there are probably better ways to spend our time.