Some Thoughts On Christianity and Politics

As I observe humanity, I see that most people by their mid 20's have made up their mind about certain spiritual things and political things. So, my point in this short blog post is not to try and change your mind about anything, but just to mention some things I've observed and hopefully spark some thought. I've been thinking a lot lately about what makes people believe what they believe. I know that much of what we believe (our worldview) comes from our experiences in life. Specifically, the people that we've grown to trust. Our parents, our church, and our friends. So, the question... what causes perfectly reasonable and rational people to believe so differently about things?

I've been thinking about politics and how divided our country seems to be.  I've been trying to figure out the core differences between the various political parties. I'm not talking about the current issues, so much as I mean the deeper differences. The issue that has me most interested, is the fact that people can say they belong to the same religion, and be on opposite sides of the political spectrum. 

So, what is the fundamental difference that divides us?

As I've been reading and thinking this through, I've come to some conclusions that I think help explain this. As I read about the differences between conservative and liberal political philosophy, I noticed one thing that was consistent. Both want to do the right thing to help people and to facilitate peace and prosperity in this country and around the world. These are shared core values for everyone (except the truly evil among us, I suppose). It's when we go deeper that I find the differences. After pondering on this for some time, I've concluded that our political philosophy is directly tied to our personal values and our theological values. 

Questions like, "What is the role of government?" which is the question that differentiates the political parties, are answered by what we value most? If you value individual responsibility and limited government, then you are considered more conservative. If you value equal opportunity and equality for all through government programs then you would be more liberal. The differences lie in the methods of achieving the common values of peace and prosperity. Who is right? That's a complicated question that isn't going to be solved in this post, but I'm of the opinion that conservative values are the most consistent with the values that are to be found in the only source of truth that we have. The Bible. Properly interpreted as divine truth, and with a view that the bible is a book from God and not just about God, the moral principles found in the scripture align consistently with conservative views on issues.  This explains why most Christians are politically conservative. Yes, some Christians are liberal politically, but what I've found is that most are also liberal theologically as well. This liberal theology is at best is a servant to a progressive, post-modern culture, at worst is functionally non-existent. 

I understand that people disagree on just about everything, and I also understand that we all think we're right. I'm honest enough to admit that I don't know for sure that everything I believe is correct. However, certain things must be held as truth. I'm just doing the best I can to understand things, and I'm sure that I've got a lot to learn. I hope my readers will consider my opinions and at least think about why we believe what we believe.