A high school student I know called last evening. He attends a Christian school and was doing some additional work beyond the regular assignments. The project he was given included interviewing a Republican and a Democrat asking questions about the party and about political perspectives.
I can imagine the student asking his parents, “How am I going to find a Democrat?”
Even though I wasn’t very articulate as I tried to answer his questions, I enjoyed the opportunity to share why I’m a registered Democrat. The stereotype that evangelical Christians are Republicans has more exceptions than some people think.
Should a follower of Christ actively try to protect the environment—God’s creation?
Should a follower of Christ be as concerned about life after the womb as life in the womb?
Should a follower of Christ be known as a champion for the poor, widows, orphans?
Should a follower of Christ believe in caring for the sick and working toward racial and economic justice?
I can imagine the student asking his parents, “How am I going to find a Democrat?”
Even though I wasn’t very articulate as I tried to answer his questions, I enjoyed the opportunity to share why I’m a registered Democrat. The stereotype that evangelical Christians are Republicans has more exceptions than some people think.
Should a follower of Christ actively try to protect the environment—God’s creation?
Should a follower of Christ be as concerned about life after the womb as life in the womb?
Should a follower of Christ be known as a champion for the poor, widows, orphans?
Should a follower of Christ believe in caring for the sick and working toward racial and economic justice?
posted by Dan McCracken at 6:55 PM
2 Comments:
Yes.
As an evangelical Christian, I often encounter astonishment that a Christian can be a Democrat. I am the kind of Democrat who tends to be conservative on social issues and populist on economic matters. In my view, many evangelicals are right about opposing abortion on demand and gay marriage and those of us who are Democrats should work to try to reform our party on these issues.
Concerning economic matters, I think that Christians should be concerned about the environment, the power of big business, a living wage, the rights of workers to organize and access to health care for the poor and working class. Such concerns have been more vigorously advocated by the Democratic Party. I realize that some Christians really believe that churches and private charities can actually meet the needs of the poor. I disagree with these folks. We will always need to have a safety net provided by the government in some form although I have no problem with the concept of faith based initiatives. The bottom line is that we need to have Christians in both political parties.
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