Christians and Politics

 

Roger Mitchell, a regular and valued commenter at both of my blogs, has written a blog post, Should Christians be Involved in Politics?  It is a thought-provoking read, as is much of what he writes.  His answer is “no.”  I offer here his conclusion:

What, then, shall be done? How, then, shall we live? Well, there is nothing to do except to change myself into and in conformance with His likeness, to become holy as He is holy, to accept that there is no other name except His by which I am saved. This alone brings freedom. It is the only path to life. Nothing else will work. Everything else will fail.

You can rationalize all you want. You can make all the excuses you want. You can delude yourselves until the chickens come home to roost. In the end, you are only deceiving yourself.

I offered a comment, as follows:

Roger, I offer a story, taken from an excellent novel on the Spanish Civil War. As you know, fascists vs. communists – although even within each label there were other groups, etc.

Barcelona was more favorable to the communist side. Being a Catholic in this region was almost certain to bring persecution, if not death. Now, I could take a shortcut here – bypassing the more sobering point to the story…well, I will offer the shortcut, then get to the more sobering point.

A Catholic in Barcelona would much prefer the fascists led by Franco. It doesn’t mean they thought godly everything that Franco touched. It just meant relative safety for them and their families.

The more sobering story: before the war broke out, one of the sons of this Catholic family donated blood to a man, saving the man’s life. Turns out this man was a fanatical communist.

He would go on to protect the family during the fighting – with firearms and whatever else – from his fellow communists. He said, to the mother: “not even God can get through me to you.” She would smile, understanding his point even though it was a very poor way to phrase it.

So, I am not sure what I am saying – and, for sure you know how I feel about the lot of them (all the likely winners are supporters of genocide; it doesn’t get more evil than this). Maybe instead of considering it as the lesser of two evils, we consider all as fallen, but some less fallen than others.

Even with this said, I still don’t know how I feel about any of it. The way politics is practiced in a relativist, atheist society, is ugly – even in its least-fallen form.

I have written one post on the novel from which I based my comment, and I offer a couple of excerpts from my post as they are relevant to the point I am offering for consideration:

Gironella [the author] paints a picture of the chaos, turmoil, and terror when one is faced with a situation from which there is no escape – when no avenue offers safety, when no side can be chosen because all sides are violent and repressive, and choosing the wrong (losing) side is just as likely as choosing the right (winning) side; and the “right” and “wrong” sides can change claim to the seat of power, at times even day-to-day.

Throughout the novel, I am struck by the paralyzing nature of the situation – what choices can one make when all choices are bad?  Gironella paints this picture with great nuance and clarity – the lives of everyday people in a boat floating off as it will – with no one able to control it. 

We are not yet at the point of civil war.  But in every way, it seems inevitable that we are headed in this direction.  At that point, will we, as Christians be satisfied if we stayed out of politics?  Before we come to that point, will we rather choose a strongman – say, a Napoleon – to bring order no matter the consequences to libertarian political theory?

Angelo Codevilla was a prescient writer, seeing the divide in America many years ago and where this divide would lead.  I wrote several pieces referencing his work (just search “Codevilla” in the search bar on the right column).  However, I offer his comment most relevant to this topic, written in the run-up to Donald Trump’s election victory in 2016:

We have stepped over the threshold of a revolution. It is difficult to imagine how we might step back, and futile to speculate where it will end. Our ruling class’s malfeasance, combined with insult, brought it about. Donald Trump did not cause it and is by no means its ultimate manifestation. Regardless of who wins in 2016, this revolution’s sentiments will grow in volume and intensity, and are sure to empower politicians likely to make Americans nostalgic for Donald Trump’s moderation.

Trump isn’t the tyrant.  But, when the time comes, would we rather have a tyrant that brings order, or would we prefer a violent revolution?  I think it is going to be one or the other, or one following the other.  In either case, I would rather avoid the violent revolution part.

But what can I do about any of it?  On the political level, almost nothing.  But that’s the rub.  “Almost” leaves the door open a crack.  Yes, we are almost always stuck with the lesser of two evils, and that is certainly true in this election (both major candidates support genocide; once accepted, why would anyone in the United States believe that the same government won’t use this method internally?).

With all of this said, I see a sound argument for Christians to stay out of politics, in every way, shape, and form.  And I also see a sound argument for the idea that if good people stay out of politics, then only evil will win.  Then again, it seems no matter what we do, evil wins in politics.  Can you sense my struggle on this topic?

So, I offer a possibility, something approaching Roger’s view, but maybe not quite all the way there.  A video from Mull Monastery, entitled “The mad circus of having to vote for the lesser evil.”  The video is only about eighteen minutes, and worth watching, but I will summarize it (and paraphrase the comments).

I offer one caveat: he does speak of some sort of government social safety net that he sees as Christian.  No surprise to you, I do not see this as Christian at all.  Good works cannot be offloaded; good works cannot come by taking money from some people and giving it to others.

Every four years, the whole world has to deal with, and somehow survive, another set of US presidential elections.

It really is true.  Even today, with the entire world, outside of the North Atlantic, sees America as the Great Satan (and who can blame them); they see that nothing really important will change.  Even many people who live in the United States and other North Atlantic countries see it the same way. 

We are demanded to stand up for “the Christian choice.”  But this has nothing to do with Christ, or Christ’s Church.  It just has to do with how they pick and choose small pieces from the Gospel.

Everyone has a proof text – as if one verse can be understood out side of any context. 

We do have to give strong, vocal support for the truth as the Church has given witness.  Because the greater evil is to remain silent.  He offers some idea that we do have to consider who might at least protect some sense of a Christian society. 

Further, it is a demonic fear, the one that tells us not to speak out.  This is Christ’s teaching; this is the way to navigate through this mad circus.  We are to speak out.  Yet, we have no Christian choice in our voting. 

There is nothing Christian in the fact that both of the major parties in the US support wars throughout the world, and support the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people every single year.  Both parties support genocides as we speak right now.

There is nothing Christian on either side of this mad battle, this mad circus.

Yet, he concludes that if he lived in the United States, he would vote – and he knows exactly for whom he would vote (he doesn’t say).  He knows that whoever he chooses is not Christ and does not represent His Church.  There is no Christian option, they are both anti-Christian. 

In any given context, one choice is going to be worse than the other.

 We have to stand up for the small goodness – “my God, the world we live in” – when comparing two devils.   

Conclusion

I am not saying vote; I am not saying don’t vote.  I understand the reasons for and against.  But, recognize, there is no Christian option on the ballot.

Epilogue

Returning to a comment from Roger’s post:

There is only one way. Everything else will fail.

One time when I went to lunch with the pastor of the Protestant church that I attend, he said to the waitress: “We are about to pray for our lunch.  Is there anything we can pray for you about.”

I thought we might get piss in our food!  (The community is a very “spiritual, but not religious” community.)  But, no.  She had a prayer request.

Vote or don’t.  But we can all offer this to the world.  And it is more effective than any vote any of us will ever make.