2008 Woodie Awards
Is God a Republican?
Issue date: 10/21/04 Section: Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I decided to write this after seeing an Omnibus editorialist and the College Republicans use Ecclesiastes 10:2 to defend their political positions. "A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man's heart directs him toward the left." Either they actually believe this passage proves God is a Republican, or they were using scripture as a joke to gain political advantage.
I am deeply concerned about the growing assumption that a vote for President Bush is a vote for God. It has become such a widely held belief in evangelical Christianity that democracy seems to hang in the balance.
The threat to democracy seems to depend in part on the struggle between prophetic Christianity and a Christianity that is determined to build an earthly kingdom. Prophetic faith is determined to speak truth to power by championing the cause of the poor, preaching strength in weakness and victory in loss.
It is the faith of Jesus and countless martyrs who toiled in obscurity to bring freedom to the captives, often in defiance of state and church. In contrast, the faith of empire-building is intoxicated by the power of authority and conquest. It is the faith of Constantine and the Religious Right, who appear to be more interested in macho triumphalism and cavalier condescension than humility and grace.
I must admit, the idea of Christian empire is very seductive. You can accomplish amazing things when God is on your side. You can claim to be the great defender, even when your preemptive unilateral policies promote violence rather than justice and reconciliation. You can favor the desires of the powerful pharmaceutical and insurance companies (the healthy) over the needs of the 45 million uninsured (the sick).
You can represent yourself as the protector of unborn life, even when you've done nothing to stop abortions and your economic policies actually increase the demand. You can grant enormous advantages to the wealthy and somehow manage to convince the poor and middle class that it is in their best interest, even while more of them fall into poverty.
You can represent yourself as the defender of marriage, while divorce rates for heterosexuals continue to climb, especially among Christians. In general you can create a high tide that sinks all but the biggest boats, but it does not seem to matter when you have God on your side.
The question we have to answer is: What kind of Christians will we be? Will we spend our time living in delirious gratitude for the grace we enjoy, building community and committing ourselves to pursuing social justice for "the least of these?" Or will we spend our time protecting the privileged and hammering the public into our image?
God is not right-wing or left-wing. God is not a Republican or a Democrat. I believe reasonable people can find good reasons to vote for the candidate of their choice. However, to smugly declare that there is only one choice for Christians in this election is to hijack Jesus and exhibit a profound ignorance of scripture, history and politics.
-Brett Miller
Associate Professor of Communication
I decided to write this after seeing an Omnibus editorialist and the College Republicans use Ecclesiastes 10:2 to defend their political positions. "A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man's heart directs him toward the left." Either they actually believe this passage proves God is a Republican, or they were using scripture as a joke to gain political advantage.
I am deeply concerned about the growing assumption that a vote for President Bush is a vote for God. It has become such a widely held belief in evangelical Christianity that democracy seems to hang in the balance.
The threat to democracy seems to depend in part on the struggle between prophetic Christianity and a Christianity that is determined to build an earthly kingdom. Prophetic faith is determined to speak truth to power by championing the cause of the poor, preaching strength in weakness and victory in loss.
It is the faith of Jesus and countless martyrs who toiled in obscurity to bring freedom to the captives, often in defiance of state and church. In contrast, the faith of empire-building is intoxicated by the power of authority and conquest. It is the faith of Constantine and the Religious Right, who appear to be more interested in macho triumphalism and cavalier condescension than humility and grace.
I must admit, the idea of Christian empire is very seductive. You can accomplish amazing things when God is on your side. You can claim to be the great defender, even when your preemptive unilateral policies promote violence rather than justice and reconciliation. You can favor the desires of the powerful pharmaceutical and insurance companies (the healthy) over the needs of the 45 million uninsured (the sick).
You can represent yourself as the protector of unborn life, even when you've done nothing to stop abortions and your economic policies actually increase the demand. You can grant enormous advantages to the wealthy and somehow manage to convince the poor and middle class that it is in their best interest, even while more of them fall into poverty.
You can represent yourself as the defender of marriage, while divorce rates for heterosexuals continue to climb, especially among Christians. In general you can create a high tide that sinks all but the biggest boats, but it does not seem to matter when you have God on your side.
The question we have to answer is: What kind of Christians will we be? Will we spend our time living in delirious gratitude for the grace we enjoy, building community and committing ourselves to pursuing social justice for "the least of these?" Or will we spend our time protecting the privileged and hammering the public into our image?
God is not right-wing or left-wing. God is not a Republican or a Democrat. I believe reasonable people can find good reasons to vote for the candidate of their choice. However, to smugly declare that there is only one choice for Christians in this election is to hijack Jesus and exhibit a profound ignorance of scripture, history and politics.
-Brett Miller
Associate Professor of Communication