The election is over. Although I wasn’t surprised that President Obama came out victorious (I’d been following Nate Silver’s blog for weeks), this campaign did have an unexpected outcome for me personally — it made me more familiar with and committed to my Christian faith.
I realize that’s a bizarre conclusion to months of finger-pointing and partisan bickering, but it’s true.
It all began as my attempt to turn Jesus into a Democrat. I reasoned that Jesus, who spoke incessantly of helping the poor and the sick, would absolutely be in favor of Obamacare and a tax increase for the top 1 percent. I couldn’t understand how most Evangelical Christians supported Gov. Romney, a man who was so dismissive about the needy in that 47 percent video.
Didn’t Christ say that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God? Why was the Republicans’ Christian faith their driving force when it came to issues like abortion and gay marriage, but not poverty? Jesus spoke a whole lot more about money than he did about sex.
I started to read my Bible, something that — despite being a Christian my whole life — I had done very little of in the past. I checked out books on theology from the library. I discovered a few excellent Christian blogs. And I turned every mention of God or religion in the political arena into a fact-checking expedition. Are pregnancies resulting from rape really intended by God? Does he care about whether or not his name appears in a political party’s platform? What are these Judeo-Christian values Obama and the Democrats are being accused of threatening?
For the record, the answer to the previous questions — from my personal interpretation of scripture — is no, no and I have no idea. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t pin Jesus down to the political party of my choice. Much like how New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie felt about the election after Hurricane Sandy, I found that Jesus doesn’t give a damn about presidential politics.
He hardly talked about the matter, and he lived during politically tumultuous times. When pressed on the subject, he said things like “My kingdom is not of this world,” and “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God, the things that are God’s.” He never took a political stance and didn’t urge his followers to do so.
Still, during the campaign season, I heard countless religious leaders tell their congregations to vote for Romney based on faith.
Perhaps the most disturbing thing I saw was a video put out by former Arkansas governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee just a few days before Nov. 6. It basically tried to coerce Christians into choosing a president based on three issues he deemed non-negotiable — life, marriage and religious freedom. “Your vote will affect the future and be recorded in eternity. Will you vote the values that will stand the test of fire?” Huckabee’s voiceover said as images of flames appeared on the screen.
After watching it, I couldn’t help but feel like I had just been sentenced to hell unless I changed my mind about who I was going to vote for.
Huckabee’s position stands starkly in contrast with what my journey into the Bible and the teachings of Jesus over the last few months has revealed. There is only one non-negotiable issue Christ talks about and it is a simple, yet outrageously radical concept — love.
Jesus never explicitly called on his followers to vote or use government to further his mission, but he did call on us, time and time again, to love.
To love our neighbors and our enemies. To love the unborn babies and the women who’ve had abortions and the doctors who perform those abortions and the senators who believe those abortions should be illegal. To love the folks on welfare and the 1 percent. To love the president, no matter who he is. To love the Navy Seals who protect our country and those they protect our country from. To love the pundits and the statisticians. To love the gays and the members of Westboro Baptist Church. To love the healthy and those who have pre-existing conditions. To love the Muslims and the Jews and the Mormons. To love Hispanics and blacks and Asians and Native Americans and whites. To love the socialists and the libertarians. To love Mike Huckabee and James Dobson and Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove and yes, even Donald Trump.
We are called to love above all else.
Now, just because Jesus didn’t talk about politics doesn’t mean that elections don’t matter and Christians shouldn’t participate in them. I still believe that having the opportunity to choose our country’s leaders is a great privilege that should not be taken lightly. Voting gives us an opportunity to affect the future, to make the world a better place. But while I get to cast a ballot for president once every four years, as a Christian, I can demonstrate Christ’s love to the world every single day. What do you think makes a bigger difference?
Related Stories
Immigration debate misses human angle
This article appears in Nov 21-27, 2012.
Wonderful article. Thank you for expressing in print the sentiments of liberal christians, like me. And, thanks for the reminder to continue to love above all else.
Trying to pull logic and reason out of religion…hilarious!
Jesus was not a real person. He was invented by the Romans. That has been proven beyond doubt if Americans would read but most Christians don’t even read and much less understand the Bible. The Christ is a figure in all major religions. It doesn’t belong to Christianity. Shiva is Christ. Buddha is Christ. It is a sexual force that can be used within a loving marriage to awaken kundalini and ensure that you do not return to another body in another life as long as you “sacrifice” or kill your ego. That is the sacrifice that Jesus made. That is the sacrifice all the Christ figures made. They killed their egos and awakened their kundalini. It is metaphor and allegory. The literal interpretation of the Bible will force most people to return to this world or a similar one because you learned nothing in this one. The really bad ones will even return as an animal, plant or mineral. Humans in fact are not humans at all. To be human is to have compassion. We are mostly intellectual animals. If we were humans we would not celebrate the genocide of the native Americans by eating turkey and shopping. Your parents lied to you but they didn’t know any better either. It’s up to each of us to destroy our inner demons. God is within if you look for it. You will never find it externally. That is materialism, money and Satan and that is why America is modern Babylon. Babylon must fall.
Aileen, thank you for sharing your article. This is a similar message to one of the talks at the recent Charlotte interfaith Thanksgiving servie. It is so good to hear what many of us already know in our hearts. Unfortunately, most of the messages we hear about “voting from our faith” are not coming from love. Namaste.
Though I am conservative, I have never claimed to know Jesus so well as to determine how he would vote or which political party he would endorse. Despite that, I feel fairly certain that He just might find fault with a political party that on one hand endorses freedom of choice when it comes to killing another innocent life but on the other does not afford that same freedom to choose in determining how much of their own money to give to the poor (taxes). Do democrats really not see a conflict here? Is political opportunity and power so seductive that it’s really possible to make the contorted rationalizations necessary like this thinking so easy to perform? Democrats speak of love as a free-flowing thing that demands nothing from anyone. (Well, except ‘the rich’. In which case NO percentage of a confiscatory tax levied upon them is ever enough). Ms Arreaza intuits that certain issues not mentioned in the Bible such as gay marriage are therefore possibly not something people should oppose. Neither is using a cell phone while driving. Therefore, using Ms. Arreaza’s logic, we shouldn’t make a judgement on that issue and just let people do what they want. After all, that’s the sign of ‘true’ love. Right?
Soooooooooooooooooo…are there any pro-Obama progressives who can/will answer this question? – what is president Obama’s plan for reducing the deficit? I ask this question out of sincerity. I really to know what his plan is. I already know he wants to raise taxes on the rich. It’s a fact that doing so would only fund present federal spending for a week or so. Then what? Is there an answer? Do democrats want to find an answer? Or is there just going to be more rhetorical pontification from ‘the great One’ and futher ‘lessons’ on the benefits of income redistribution? Lessons that stoke the fires of envy while solving nothing. So let’s hear it. Let’s hear some real ideas for once.
Although God never mentions gay marriage specifically, He does share with us his views on homosexuality in Romans 1:26–, 1 Cor 6:9,many other sites. God also totally destroyed Sodom and Gommorah for homosexuality. Will He do any less for USA? God is no respector of persons as there is no partiality with God.
Lev 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is an abomination.”
2Thess 3:10 states “If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat.”(NAS) I am very opposed to handing over year after year tax $$ to those too lazy to work but use money to buy drugs, alcohol, etc. There is a huge difference in being poor although willing to work vs too lazy to work. Sometimes love must be tough and force others to be the man or woman God created them to be by getting a job.
I believe life begins at conception. Once conceived, that soul will live forever someplace. So, to me abortion is very wrong. God says, “Children are a blessing from the Lord” and there is the commandment to not kill.
In Deut. God sets before us blessings and curses and we are told how to chose blessings. OT references? Yes! God is the same yeterday, today and tomorrow and He never allows or changes His mind about sin. I feel America is now chosing curses.
Ms Arreaza …Yes, we are called to love God above all and next to love our neighbor as ourself. God tells us the greatest way we can Him love is by keeping his commandments.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
Like Israel, most in America have placed so many things before God. As we read of the price paid by God’s chosen race(Israel), and they still are paying by daily persecution, makes us wonder what is ahead for America.
Romney has more of the values that many of us have. How on earth could Obama become a Christian by listening for 20+ years to Jeremiah Wright’s hate-filled speeches????? I feel he is a muslim, due in large part to his own words in his book, “If in a bind, I will side with my muslim brothers.”
He did not hold National day of Prayer for Christians but did hold day of prayer for muslims near WhiteHouse. It is so sad to see this once great nation being destroyed.
Judy the Judgmental Christian needs to get a grip, an education, and a TV remote that doesn’t go to Fox News’ Lie-a-thon. Judy, if you want to believe that the Bible is an inerrant, word for word guide to living righteously, then good for you. Where many, many others have a problem, though, is when people who believe such things insist that everyone else should believe them too. Belief in a literal interpretation of the Bible is strictly a 19th Century invention, and should be treated as just that: an invention. But, if you want to go on thinking like some hick Southern Baptist preacher, knock yourself out; just don’t expect everyone else to go along with your delusions. You mention Deuteronomy and its list of acceptable and forbidden behaviors. I assume that means you would kill any daughter who was not a virgin when she married, right? And you would kill any disobedient son, right? And since you ostensibly don’t have two testicles, then I guess you’ve never entered “the assembly of the Lord.” And I suppose you’re fine with the rule that a woman must marry her rapist. And I hope you never forget that if your husband gets into a fight with another man, you’re not allowed to grab the other guy by his privates or else your hand will be cut off. It’s all too ridiculous to even discuss, but you insist that 21st century Americans should live by these rules? If not, then why not?
John…Our forefathers came to America for freedom of religion and to escape tax. We each are entitled to an opinion and one vote. As we have choices, I only stated MY beliefs and yes, I place more importance on where I spend eternity than the here and now of this life as this life is only a small dot on the timeframe of eternity.
Many subjects you bring up are only OT. We do now live under grace, not under Law & many OT stipulations do not pertain to today.
I wrote about homosexuality, abortion, use of tax $$ and the commandment to love God & to love others. There are scriptures in BOTH Old and New Testament to deal with all these topics.
I do not feel my tax $$ should pay for someone else’s abortion when I am opposed to this as it then denies me my right to religious freedom.
Seems absurd that we take from those who work and hand out year after year tax dollars to able-bodied people who scam the system and refuse to work. There are many who are unable to work or the working poor. These I feel we definitely should help.
The topic was why some vote for one candidate vs another. It is very obvious this nation is no longer being blessed. One must be totally blind to deny the famines, droughts, natural disasters, pestilence, crime, divorce, out of wedlock children, etc. USA has won its last war. But then, maybe you feel USA is being blessed or think it is all due to gobal warming. Have you read Matt 24 lately? All these things will simply intensify.
With so many people fasting and praying in this election, I know it is God’s will that Obama be in office. There is a verse that says “All government is established by God.” I do believe God has a plan and a purpose in all this and as Job stated, “no plan of Thine will be thwarted.” My responsibility is to pray for president and all gov officials. The greatest commandment IS love.
Sir, I am simply born-again Bible believing non-demoninational Christian. The Holy Spirit does the teaching, not a “teacher/preacher.”
Yes, Judy, I am familiar with that commandment. The one that says “Thou shall not kill unless convicted by a jury of your peers or ordered to by your President in a foreign land”.
There is a difference between “studying” a book and “memorizing” the book. If you truly studied the Bible you would see that it is a collection of stories written by different people with different agendas.
Studying is an attempt to understand. Your Bible was compiled in 325 AD at the direction of Emperor Constantine. It was not written by your imaginary friend.
Judy, you say you “do not feel my tax $$ should pay for someone else’s abortion when I am opposed to this as it then denies me my right to religious freedom.” Well, that’s the breaks of living in a secular democracy I guess. The day they tell you it’s OK for you to pick and choose which federal or state programs your taxes will go toward, please let me know. There are a couple of wars, a drug war, and a buttload of govt-subsidized corporations such as big oil companies whose fingers I’d like to get out of my wallet.