‘Tis the season.
Time to tune in to my daily dose of talk radio (local and national), cruise the blogs, update my favorites list and – as the proud owner of my own corner of the blogosphere – start weighing in with my own political opinions.
Well, it didn’t work out that way.
For some reason, I haven’t been able to get into politics this election cycle. Since Dr Paul dropped out, I feel like more of an observer than a participant. And that solely out of morbid curiosity…like watching a car wreck. But this is supposed to be about the book…
The chapter title reflects Barna’s polling results that a majority of unchurched people view Christians as too political. I don’t think it’s too difficult to see why. The rise of the Christian right as a Republican political force over the last 20 has been largely defined by using governmental power to enforce a version of Biblical morality on others. At least this is the perception.
It’s easy in a politically polarized society, where Democratic voters are “Moonbats” and Republicans are “Re-thugs” to loose sight of the fact that we are putting labels on other humans. When we read or listen exclusively to one point of view, we oversimplify the complexity of our society when it comes to politics. For instance, it is easy to look at this map from the 2004 presidential election and claim that the US is a Republican nation and Democrats are a dying minority (map from washingtonpost.com):
However, if you look at a county-by-county map, shaded for population and party, the polarity and division becomes less obvious (map from Princeton.edu):
One of my favorite maps is the red/blue state map, size-distorted for population (several other cool maps like this here):
The point in showing these is to raise awareness that one party’s view does not dominate our politics as much as we would like to think. The survey results in the book show only 9% of the voting population is considered ‘evangelical Christian’ – defined by multiple objective criteria, not self-identified, and 24% are non-Christians with the rest somewhere in between. Given these numbers, evangelicals should be acutely aware that mixing faith and political attitudes in a negative, polarizing way can further alienate people who need God in their life.
Other survey results show younger people are less likely to support a Biblical view of governance; teaching creationism or holding sectarian prayer in public schools, anti-abortion, anti-homosexual, anti-euthanasia, pro drug war, pro incarceration, etc. We need to be careful that we respond to discussions of these topics with tact and grace; leaving people thinking something like, “Hmmmm. I never thought of that,” instead of, “What a narrow-minded idiot.” When Jesus spoke, critics were silenced and neutral observers were amazed. We have to remember, as Kinnaman points out, that when we speak, we are doing so to multiple audiences at once and we must consider our listeners (p160).
He drives the point home here:
In an era of mass media, blogs, and viral videos, it is important to remember that your words and actions may endure in the blogosphere, on YouTube, or on some other digital destination. This is particularly important for those Christians who appear in media, because the stakes are high. What you say and how you say it are important issues of stewardship…we cannot ignore the listeners who may be making spiritual conclusions about whether Christianity rings true or not. (p162)
Consider the recent flap over Senator Barak Obama’s pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright...or John Hagee's comments regarding Hurricane Katrina. Whether or not I agree with these men is not important. The point is, when their statements are broadcast, unchurched people form opinions about Christians - you and me. Please..consider the audience when talking politics.
We, as Christians, have an interest and a right to have our voices heard in our elected government and even serve there. However, we should be careful who we ally with and who we give ear to. Divisive, pigeon-holing radio, TV and internet opinions are entertaining and should be heard in that light. Let’s not substitute prayer for our elected leaders with ridicule and criticism. In the political arena, we should be known for what we are (com)passionately for, not what we are virally against. Brian McLaren sums things up, reminding us that people are ultimately our concern, not the issues of the day:
Some of us believe that leaders in the Religious Right have, in a classic case of gaining the world and losing the soul, successfully gained political clout but lose our next generation (p172).
