Christian Politics

Let me keep all my money. Don’t touch my guns or SUV. Allow me my divorce. Then I’ll be happy. I’ll even vote for you.

This is a caricature, but it is a recognizable one. It prompts me to ask, what is the essence of authentically Christian political thought?

Christian thinking about politics was powerfully shaped by the threat of communism in the middle part of the last century. Adventists, like other Christians, were terrified by what seemed to be the inexorable tide of global communism which combined collectivism and atheism. Here in the U.S. we linked every kind of collective action outside of church with communism. Unions–communist fronts. Social security, welfare, Medicare, minimum wage laws–all leading edges of the wedge of socialism, itself a mere mask for communism.

Since collectivism was communist, we were for individualism. Radical individualism. This was reaffirmed by our eschatology which pictured the end of history as a totalitarian extermination of the last vestiges of individual conscience.

Against the menace of collectivism gone rampant we embraced a radical individualism. If you want a quality education, pay for it. Out of your own pocket. Do you want health care. Get busy and earn enough money to pay for it. All of it. Do you want a clean environment? Earn enough money to buy enough acres to create your own environment. Do you want a decent income? Don’t look to unions or the government to safeguard your hourly wage. Go to graduate school or medical school. If you don’t have the brains or drive to do that, then accept what is offered without grumbling.

There maybe value in this Darwinian, blessings to the strongest, approach to life. However, I can’t see what it has to do with the philosophy of Jesus. The Good Samaritan, The Two Great Commandments, The Sermon on the Mount, The Story of the Sheep and Goats all point to some kind of social awareness and care. If “I” have an obligation to respond to the need of individuals around me, it seems “we” have some obligation to the needs of the community around us.

Accepting the obligations of community will not make us automatically favor “leftist” or “socialist” politics. It does mean the highest values in our political philosophy cannot be low taxes, big cars, easy guns and easy divorce. Maybe these particular strategies will turn out to be the best way to promote the well-being of society. But it is the well-being of society–including the well-being of the weakest, poorest and sickest–that must be our highest concern.

“Pro-life” must also mean pro-environment, pro-living wage, pro-accessible health care, pro-education, pro-accessible legal aid because these things are essential if humans are going to thrive in third millennium America. “Pro-business” should also mean pro-strong judiciary, pro-public and private transportation, pro-education, pro-accessible health care because these provide the essential infrastructure for solid business growth.

Our belief in the value of freedom leads us to keep the state out of divorce decisions as far as possible. Our belief in community, in a shared responsibility for children and even for adults, prompts us to insist on some state involvement in divorce. This same ambiguity should apply to our stance on homosexual unions. The state must offer some measure of protection to children and adults associated with unions between homosexuals. Not because we “believe in homosexuality,” but because we believe in the value of people and community.

Perhaps it will turn out that low taxes, easy gun ownership, no limits on emissions and easy marriage and divorce for heterosexuals only are the public policies most conducive to a prosperous, peaceful society. I’m not quite yet convinced. What I am convinced of is that for Christians, the starting point cannot be simply–I want what’s desirable for me. Rather our starting point must be a vision of well-being that includes “the least of these.” At every step in the policy making process, Christians ought to ask, how is my opinion informed by the teaching and example of Jesus.

Then we can have truly fruitful political debate and can craft public policy that promotes prosperity and peace for all.