If you think you need laws, penalties, or social coercion to get people to do as you think God wants, then you might be a member of the Religious Right or the Taliban, depending on whether you call God “Jesus” or “Allah”. But regardless of where you live, you’re certainly a self-righteous idolater.
Rob Boston has an inspiring article at Alternet (Theocracy Rejected) interviewing Religious Right apostates. Frank Schaeffer, John Whitehead, and Cal Thomas are former promoters and authors for the Religious Right and all have turned their backs on the movement. Reading through the article left me feeling hopeful that love will win out and that, indeed, God can change the hearts of even bitter theocrats. Here are few incisive quotes from Schaeffer, Whitehead, and Thomas:
“Politics,” [Whitehead] said in a recent interview, “would never even figure into Jesus’ mind. He was a homeless person. He was like Gandhi. It wasn’t in the picture. Christianity was not founded on politics. It was founded on helping the less fortunate …. That’s how you impact culture.”
“What I slowly realized was that the religious-right leaders we were helping to gain power were not ‘conservatives’ at all, in the old sense of the word. They were anti-American religious revolutionaries.”
“And Christians who place their hope in a political answer to the world’s ills often become nothing more than another tool in the politician’s toolbox. Indeed, Jesus refused any type of involvement with political figures.”
The Religious Right makes Christianity synonymous with “partisan politics, anti-homosexual rhetoric, affluent megachurches, and moralistic finger-pointing.”
“Religion speaks to moral issues, not political issues,” [Whitehead] said. “That was one thing that changed me. The more I read just the teachings of Jesus, as I isolated and read them over and over, I came to the conclusion that I should challenge Christians who talk about Jesus like he would sit in the White House with George Bush. I say, ‘Hey, he fought every Roman. Everyone in leadership he fought. There was a reason they crucified him.’”
I don’t go for the Jesus freaks when they seem like they want to win. (That’s a quote from a Jude song.) Jesus was a loser in the world, not a winner. Ever wonder why? He could have had everything that rich evangelicals and powerful politicians have, but he rejected it all those days in the desert.
When anyone claims that the United States is a nation founded on “Christian principles,” and they kindly supply a self-serving, oppressive agenda to me, I realize that, unlike Jesus, they took Satan’s offer.
Filed under: politics, religion | Tagged: cal thomas, frank schaeffer, john whitehead, religious right, rob boston
While I agree, in scripture there is very little agreement between politics/government and Christianity, we need to be careful that we do no lump everyone in the same category, it seems that anyone who believes strongly in the word of God can be labeled right wing, because they have specific views. Jesus was more in a fight with Wrong Jewish perceptions about the law than he was the roman government. Overthrowing the roman government is what His followers expected Him to do, but his revolution is one of the heart. The reason he was crucified is because His teaching was true, and he Claimed who he was. The messiah, and for those Jews who were unable to accept that. His “blaspheming was worthy of Death.” More importantly he was crucified to pay the penalty for our sin. I agree with you that we would probably be surprised how Jesus would respond to some of our political antics. He would definitely be more concerned with why we are more quick to win power then to overcome injustice. Good blog.
Thanks for the insightful post. Here’s the deal for me.
Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” And to his point, it wasn’t dependent on the political kingdom of man. Regardless whether it leaned right or left.
Trying to make “His kingdom my primary concern.” Luke 12:31 NLT
Hal