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“The question is not
whether God is on our side. The question is whether we are on God’s
side.” –
Abraham
Lincoln
World
without end, amen. Thank you for attending today’s service.
That would
be the shortest sermon I’ve ever heard and one of the best. Lincoln
had it exactly right, and if a June 20, 2004 story in the Los
Angeles Times is correct, the National
Association of Evangelicals may be headed the same direction.
The Times has snagged a copy
of a draft policy statement by the NAE that lays down a foundation
for political action by evangelical groups while discouraging too
close ties with political parties. The draft reportedly urges NAE
members to continue to take Biblical stands on moral and social
issues but to shy away from party politics.
Americans have been debating
the role of religion in politics since the first boot struck
Plymouth Rock. It was the national pastime before baseball and will
be long after the last glove is unlaced and the final bat is
cracked. And although it’s become conventional wisdom to believe
religion tends to elbow in on politics, the real problem comes from
government’s intrusion into moral matters, unqualified as it may be
to do so.
Some of this is necessary.
“Thou shall not murder,” for instance, is both good religion and
good public policy. But while it is necessary to legislate morality
– as all laws do – it is absurd to scold churches or other religious
organizations for simply taking stands that are moral in nature on
issues like capital punishment, abortion, gay marriage, war,
divorce, and anything else that comes down to a choice between right
and wrong.
Those of faith should not be
mum on issues that have been politicized because it is by politics
that such matters are decided, at least from a legal standpoint.
Politics are too important too be left in the hands of politicians,
but speaking up in the public arena is a far different thing than
yoking oneself to a particular party.
The media commonly associates
evangelical Christians with the Republican Party, a notion to which
there is some truth. In a poll co-sponsored by U.S. News & World
Report this year, 69 percent of white evangelicals identified
themselves as Republican or inclined toward that party. In the same
poll, however, 84 percent of black evangelicals were Democrats or
leaning that way. Race may be a greater indication of political
leaning than religion, but religion does play a role.
In any event, no party has
the franchise on God or on claiming him as an ally. In 1997,
Hillary Clinton told the Richmond Times-Dispatch “I have to confess
that it’s crossed my mind that you could not be a Republican and a
Christian.” The better question, to parrot Lincoln, is whether that
has crossed God’s mind.
The thing about being on
God’s side is that it is a personal decision. My Bible does not
mention that political parties will one day stand before the Lord.
People will, and I’m pretty sure that if party membership were
required the Good Book would have mentioned it.
The NAE’s policy draft is
only lightly quoted in the Times article and is apparently not
available to the public so it’s too early to form an opinion on the
proposal as a whole. However, this clarification of priorities
would be welcome.
It is a mistake to think that
any political party holds the deed to the moral high ground.
There’s room for everyone, but don’t expect God to take sides.
That’s our job; we just need to choose wisely.
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