The Theology of Politics

 

Introduction

Over the past three decades or so, the Republican Party has convinced the nation that they have a monopoly on Christian morality.  I don’t believe that they do.  While I don’t believe that either political party perfectly reflects my Christian convictions, I do believe that right now the Democratic Party reflects those convictions better than the Republican Party does.

On some issues the Democrats better represent the biblical stance on an issue.  On other issues the Republicans are better biblical representatives.  On some issues neither party does a good job of holding to the biblical stance.  On other issues there really is no clear biblical perspective, so the stance for Christians is more open.

What I'm trying to accomplish

Over the next five days I will be posting five brief essays explaining why I am a Christian who has chosen to vote Democrat in the upcoming election.  I also want to do this to assure others (and myself) that my choice to vote this way is because of my Christian convictions and not in spite of them.

My goal with this isn’t to convince anyone to vote Democrat or to come over to my way of seeing things.  My goal is simply to lay out the important political issues as I see them, examine each party’s stance on those issues, and see what scripture has to say about them.  I also want to take a look at the candidates and evaluate each of them from a biblical perspective.

This exercise is more for my own benefit than it is for the benefit of others.  It is merely a way for me to explore, research, think through, and examine how I as a Christian see my role in this world as I interact with the American political system.

If you choose to read along, I invite you to interact with me, but more importantly, I invite you to interact with scripture and with our Heavenly Father as you examine the important issues facing us as citizens of America today.

A few notes on procedure

I will post one blog each evening beginning tomorrow and ending on Friday.

Monday - My political upbringing
Tuesday - The relationship between religion and politics
Wednesday - A look at the candidates
Thursday - The "Christian Issues:" Abortion and Gay Marriage
Friday - A biblical take on the issues and where the Parties stand

I will be referencing a lot of scripture, but I won’t necessarily be directly quoting verses or long passages, so whenever I reference or quote the Bible I will link to the verse or passage I am talking about.  Whenever I quote statistics or studies, I will also link to the source of the information whenever possible, so that you can check my sources and read more on items you would like to know more about.

I want to encourage discourse on these important issues.  Feel free to use your Google account to comment directly on the blog (this would be my preference), or you can comment on the links I will post on Facebook each day.  I also want to remind everyone to remain civil and respectful as we discuss issues that often stir up intense emotions.

Thank you for reading these posts and for participating with me as I go through this process of engaging the political process as a Christian.